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Apple Doesn't Appreciate Toilet Humor

Posted by samzenpus on from the evacuate-different dept.

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."

3 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Low hanging fruit by Reilaos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't tell which company is more full of shit.

  2. iPee Laws by Silfax · · Score: 5, Funny

    Was this a violation of iPee laws also?

  3. Re:bullPoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > 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.