Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Apple Threatens Bistro Over "AppleADay" Name

Posted by samzenpus on from the take-our-name-out-of-your-mouth dept.

itwbennett writes "In today's edition of David v. Goliath, Apple lawyers have sent cease and desist letters to a tiny health food restaurant in Luxembourg named AppleADay. For their part, the owners of AppleADay, with help from a lawerly friend, have promised that they would continue to sell only food, not computers. Of course, Apple knows as well as anyone that promises are made to be broken, having famously promised Apple Corps, the Beatles' production company, they would never get into the music business."

23 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. They should change their name by Megane · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...to iAppleADay

    --
    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  2. Why are they such assholes? by AngryDeuce · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I mean, NOBODY is going to confuse them for the Apple Store. This is just petty.

    1. Re:Why are they such assholes? by Nadaka · · Score: 4, Informative

      Trademark lawyer, not patent lawyer.

    2. Re:Why are they such assholes? by haruchai · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Just because Steve Jobs is dead doesn't mean Apple is all out of assholes.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    3. Re:Why are they such assholes? by bonch · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is a trademark issue, not a patent issue. Trademark owners have to defend it or risk losing it.

      That, of course, won't stop the Slashdotters from freaking out over nothing. Notice the article was submitted by the ITWorld author who wrote it. He knew exactly what he was doing and how this readership would react. It's all about page views. This story isn't even new; it dates back to late August.

    4. Re:Why are they such assholes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      They're not "assholes." They have to exert effort in defending their trademark or risk losing it.

      This is not true in this context. They only have to defend it where relevant. Going after a tiny health food restaurant is not, unless Apple have plans to enter into that market.

    5. Re:Why are they such assholes? by king+neckbeard · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, trademarks must be defended, but this is not an instance of that because Apple's trademark doesn't cover bistros.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    6. Re:Why are they such assholes? by mcneely.mike · · Score: 3, Funny

      They need to sue each and every individual apple in the world, and the apple trees too, and get a promise from said apple trees that they will no longer grow said apples, or even miniature apples, from now on to be called Apps(tm).

      --
      soylentnews.org Go there to enjoy the people!
    7. Re:Why are they such assholes? by englishknnigits · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apple already sued New York them over their recycling program which featured a logo that had an apple in it. Apple lost.

    8. Re:Why are they such assholes? by icebraining · · Score: 3, Informative

      Windows® wasn't revoked. And they only feared that because "Windows" was a common word in the domain. "Apple" in the computing domain isn't.

      Besides, Apple was already sued because of their trademark.

      --
      Dilbert RSS feed
    9. Re:Why are they such assholes? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."

      That old saw doesn't get any smarter with age.

      Personally, I got a lot more radical and left-leaning after I retired in 2007, because with the pressure to have to go out and earn a living every day lifted from me at age 50, I could really view the system more objectively. I wasn't afraid any more the way working people in America are required to be afraid. I realized just how much most people who work for a living and yet call themselves "conservatives" are suffering from the same disorder that keeps a battered woman married to, and even sticking up for, her abuser.

      I hope you live long enough and gain enough perspective to see it the way I've seen it.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    10. Re:Why are they such assholes? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Now, instead of worrying about a job, you have to worry about healthcare

      No, I can afford healthcare. My worry is about health not health care.

      Other considerations, such as Social Security and most other AARP talking points, are going to be ones that you can now sympathize with

      Not yet. I'm still more than a decade away from those things. I won't need Social Security to live unless there is a catastrophe of such magnitude that Social Security wouldn't matter anyway.

      OTOH, folks who are older and retired are less confident, to the point of knowing that someday, dependency on others for their care will be something that they have to deal with

      You think you won't get old and infirm? I study and teach Chinese martial arts. My teacher is 87 and has such an optimistic view of his own life that he just planted plum trees in his yard, despite the fact that they won't bear fruit for 10-15 years. Now that's a worldview I emulate.

      I am saying that retirement doesn;t necessarily mean that you've suddenly become an objective judge of the world. It only trades old fears for new ones.

      My only fear is for my daughter's future, and that, friend, is something that focuses one's attention on current affairs like nothing else. I never worried much about politics or economics while I was working. I was too busy making a living. There is a reason why in most cultures, older people are respected and their opinions are sought. Now in my mid-50s, I'm sort of too old to be young and too young to be old. But I've got energy, literacy, and the time to pay attention.

      Now, having said all that, there's no fool like an old fool, so I try to remember that I'm usually full of shit.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    11. Re:Why are they such assholes? by Suhas · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Any poster, who posts tired old cliches and witty untruths to try and support a falsehood is an asshat and an idiot.
      FTFY

    12. Re:Why are they such assholes? by Internetuser1248 · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Quotation confesses inferiority"
      -Ralph Waldo Emerson

  3. This just in! by JustAnotherIdiot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple sues Mother Nature for making a fruit with the same name.

    --
    What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
  4. Is AppleHole a word yet? by glowimperial · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because if not, it should be.

  5. They have to by bonch · · Score: 5, Informative

    First, this story is months old and dates back to late August. Second, contrary to the headline, they're not threatening over the "AppleADay" name but the logo.

    Third, as is pointed out every time an incident like this occurs, trademark owners have to take no chances and must enforce perceived violations or risk losing their right to it. There is always the risk that a court somewhere in the world might cite the lack of action in some particular case. But, since it's a "David v. Goliath" article, as the summary put it, it's an excellent story to submit to Slashdot and rile up the natives.

    1. Re:They have to by Zancarius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To my untrained eye, I have a hard time seeing how they could sue over the logo. It looks nothing like the Apple Computer, Inc. logo! I realize your intentions were to attempt to absolve Apple of wrongdoing, but I think that link has succeeded in helping me decide that this suit is/was even more petty than I gleaned from TFA.

      Yes, there's the issue of trademark dilution, but I think this is far beyond ridiculous.

      --
      He who has no .plan has small finger. ~ Confucius on UNIX
    2. Re:They have to by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Second, contrary to the headline, they're not threatening over the "AppleADay" name but the logo

      It looks like...a drawing of an apple. Hard to depict an apple without it looking like an apple.
      But there are significant differences. Hollow, 2 leaves on top, no bite out of the right side, different color.

    3. Re:They have to by neo00 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Applebee's logo is an apple, too. Their name contains an "apple". And they sell food just like AppleADay. Under the same logic, they have to threaten Applebee's too?!

  6. Re:This is what happens... by Translation+Error · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is what happens when lawyers have too much time on their hands.

    Yes. Clearly, the optimal solution is to remove lawyers' hands at once.

    --
    When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
  7. Slow newsday ? by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Orignal story dates from the 5th of may (6 month old stories now Slashdot, really ?) There was a flurry of news reporting and no updates since then, not even on their Facebook page where the restaurant gleefully displayed its new found notoriety. So I'm guessing it turned out to be very much a non-story played up for advertising value.

    --
    If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
  8. I understand! by openfrog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seeing the supposedly infringing logo, I understand:

    It looks nothing like the Apple Computer logo, but IT LOOKS BETTER!

    Apple wants it.