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Apple Doesn't Appreciate Toilet Humor
beaver1024 writes "I doubt if Apple lawyers even contemplated the irony as they slapped a small Australian company producing camping equipment with a lawsuit for trademark violations. Sea to Summit makes a product that assists in the disposal of human excrement, calling it iPood. Apple thinks that 'For obvious reasons, Apple's reputation for clean design and high-tech electronics will suffer should it be associated with latrines and the like through Sea to Summit's use of iPood.' If only Sea to Summit had the resources to fight this in court. Alas, we are witnessing yet another sign of the corrupted nature of IP laws in Australia and internationally."
No, really. iDid. It's funny because it's so sad; one has no choice but to laugh. Well, laugh or just stop buying Apple products. ...typed from my Mac.
I wonder how easy it is to flush the cache.
You don't own all words that start with the letter "i". You don't even own all single syllable words that you add an "i" in front of.
Did the iLawyers iPoo their iPants when they saw this iApp supposedly violating their iTrademark?
I can't tell which company is more full of shit.
I'm missing something. What irony should they have contemplated?
iPood
Was this a violation of iPee laws also?
the outdoor gear company has proposed several new names that are also drawing flack from the iPod's masters:
the crapple
macintush
> What the hell is wrong with Apple not wanting its products associated with poo?
Trademarks are only valid for a specified product category or line of business.
See, for example, Canon EOS cameras and Volkswagen Eos cabriolet cars; there is no trademark case to answer as the product types are discrete and unambiguous.
A good example of a trademark conflict would be Apple adopting the iOS product name when Cisco already held IOS as a trademark for an operating system, so the two companies came to an agreement. But if I developed an umbrella I could name it IOS with no legal qualms, other than for overly-litigious Californian companies.
Why is this listed in the rss feed, then when I come to slashdot.org is buried away and not listed on homepage?
Fucking annoying.
Damn imagine how much Apple could've raked in if they had of named it eMac, ePod, ePad, ePhone... Those poor saps using "eMail" would never stand a chance in court! They should've picked a different name after all, sheesh.
In Sweden, iPad have now been introduced. The word "pad" is almost the same as "padda", which means "toad" in Swedish. So iPad in Sweden has now been named "paddan". It's like calling the iPad for iToad. Maybe it's a suitable name. It looks like a larger version of iPod - iPhone. So who not "iToad" or just "the Toad" then? Anyone?
We all know the next big apple product is Steve Jobs crapping in a box and slapping a label on it... the iPoo'd.
if (it != oneThing) it = another;
Maybe apple are trying to assert that their products are shit, and hence part of the same line of business.
They're right, and despite the tone in the summary, Apple's quote pretty much spells out why.
I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
Apple doesn't appreciate much.
"We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all." - Douglas Adams
""Sea to Summit iPood is clearly similar to Apple's iPod, there being merely a single letter difference," the letter said."
Ha! Wanna see how far that will get you? Check out Microsoft Vs. Lindows!
Oh, wait...
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Now I am personally an Apple hater. But can someone explain to me how Apple can remotely get away with bullying a company out of a different name for a completely different product?
iburnaga.blogspot.com
So does this mean that all the John's in the world get to sue port-a-potty company's for associating their name which follows their reputation with port-a-john's?
Sometimes, the answer is to just destroy it all.
A wild bear can't crap in the woods without completing a requisition,
environmental impact study and get it all stamped by a notary these days.
What's the world coming to ???
The thing that Apple doesn't seem to get is that trademarks are designed to prevent confusion among products in the same field. If the iPood played music or was electronic in any way, Apple might have a leg to stand on. But nobody is rationally going to think that a trowel can in any way be confused with a portable music player. Not only are the products in question completely different, but so are the respective companies' fields of endeavor. Confusion is not possible here.
The first thing that comes to mind is George Costanza's "iToilet" app from season 7...
I don't know how this stuff works legally but in my opinion, Apple owns or at least is associated with damn near everything that has the iFormat naming style.
Fortunately, your opinion is not how trademark law works. The iPood has nothing to do with computer technology, and therefore is in an entirely different trade (as in trademark). The typical person would not be confused and think that the iPood is a music player made by Apple.
*Insert complaints about how businesses bully common folk and how copyright and IP are BS yada yada yada*.
I agree, but the merciless side of me thinks they deserved it just for the fact of their lack of creativity. I am getting sick of all these things that come up with a product and just slap an i in front of it. Seriously, take another 15 minutes and brainstorm a bit longer.
I will bend like a reed in the wind.
To understand this, you must understand how trademarks work: If you fail to defend a trademark, you will lose it.
Imagine a company called ElectronCo coming up with a new electronic doodad and calling it an "iPud". Apple sues claiming that the name iPud is too close to iPod and iPad, and thus it is a trademark violation, and will confuse the consumer.
If ElectronCo can show that Apple knew about the iPood, and didn't defend its trademark against that, Apple could actually lose the case.
Therefore, companies spend lots of time and effort defending their trademarks from all possible rivals no matter how ridiculous or silly it may look.
How come Apple missed all the other i's, like iRiver (mp3 player), iRobot (Roomba vacuum cleaner), iGoogle (personalized homepage made by Apple's major nemesis) et al?
I think Linux isn't better than Windows hence in the slashdot realm I'm a troll
that would show them
...all over your crappy joke product name. Yours, Steve.
I saw these a while back: adult toilet version and baby version
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
you have to defend the trademark within your industry, last time I checked apple didn't make toilets..
I'm not saying that they would be confused, it's an image thing. It could establish a link in a person's mind between Apple and waste removal. That is not a desirable connection for Apple, but it is desirable for the people making the iPood.
"I think therefore I am"
Dear sir, your quotes "ithink" and "iam" are similar to Apple trademarks and are a violation...
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
I guess the iPhone does have 5 pages of fart apps in the app store.
It doesn't matter whether it's desirable for Apple. Apple doesn't have legal grounds to stop them from using the iPood name. So Apple is stopping them using financial means.
Support SETI@home
I just don't
by the iPod... hehe damn that was corny
but some people think their products are crap...
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
I don't like Apple much (actually I am indifferent, it's just the fanbois, whatever), but "iPood" is incredibly tasteless IMO. Sounds like something you'd read about in a humor site instead of a commercial product, latrine or not... I am totally with Apple on this one.
This would be trademark dilution, still an infraction of trademark law in many jurisdiction-though I have no idea about Australia. I can definitely see how Apple would consider the iPood a refference that wikipedia refers to as "unsavory or unflattering"and thus detrimental to there business.
Why not just change the letter? Bow to the allmightly iApple-y overlords and change the name to uPoo'd?!
Now Sea to Summit needs to change their corporate slogan to "iF*cked".
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
...that one of my first thoughts on this was, “That should be spelt ‘pooed’”?
it wouldn't surprise me to see Apple suing people over the use of the 'word' IP.
Thanks for telling me what to think, submitter. iPood is totally not an attempt to dilute the trademark of iPod, and there's no way I would get sued if I released the Xbocks 360 or started a store called Wall-mart.
Is this for real? Has all logic completely left Slashdot?
Corrupted nature of IP laws? I disagree. I don't know how this stuff works legally but in my opinion, Apple owns or at least is associated with damn near everything that has the iFormat naming style. What the hell is wrong with Apple not wanting its products associated with poo? Pick a different name.
Sorry but your opinion is wrong, there have been many iFormat product names before Apple (even in the media player market) and there will be many after. Should the companies that have used the i prefix before Apple be able to slap a lawsuit on Apple because they don't want their product associated with them?
seriously what aussie in their right mind would use the word 'poo'?! my 14 month old nephew drops the S word when explaining #2s. Forget IP laws, this is a mockery of the Australian culture!
But on another note, im sure i seen the 'ipood' t-shirt on sale from an american website long before some backyard Aussie camping shop, and if anyone here has ever met an Australian camper before, you will know they are an entire species (grey nomads, drifters, seasonal pickers, etc).
I think the real question that should be raised is why, when we become so familiar with a products name, we cant adapt it into our everyday lives? I dont think apple invented the 'i' but its used in thousands of products and company names across the world. Its there as a trend! It used to be an 'e' before and it was probably 'a' before that.
Maybe Apple Records should revisit their suit against Apple Computer. In the current legal environment, I think things would play out differently this time around.
Damn imagine how much Apple could've raked in if they had of named it eMac
You mean like this?
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
So let's say they respond back saying 'different product area, stop bothering us', but in proper legalese.
If Apple says 'not worth our time', then obviously, it's all over. If they disagree though, what happens?
Brilliant way of this company to get free advertisement.
Costs nothing and is now boosting the number
Of people who knew them before by millions
Very smart.
Or what about a record company and a computer company? It became an issue when the computer company started selling Music. The name of that company slipped my mind. Pear? Orange?
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
You're right, it's called the shuffle, I understand.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Order placed, shipping will take a few days ; either I'll own something moderately useful, plus have the pleasure of having shat in Steve JobBIE's capPOOccino. Or I'll have something not terribly useful that I can still sell as a collectors item on eBay when JobBIE finally gets flushed.
(For those who live outside the civilised world, "jobbie" is a Scots word for a turd. As in "Piss and Jobbie", Aberdeen's newspaper.
(While ordering, from a UK-based supplier, I saw a very worrying product called a Campinggaz Cat Heater. Why would you want to heat your cat by putting it on a gas burner? Why would you even want to take your cat camping? Bizarre! And iWonder what Apple's lawyers make of the "DryPod"? )
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Fuck off douche