Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Italian Clothing Company Defeats Apple, Wins the Right To Use Steve Jobs' Name (macrumors.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the multi-year-legal-battles dept.

An Italian clothing company that uses the name "Steve Jobs" as its brand will be able to continue using the moniker after winning a multi-year legal battle, reports Italian site la Repubblica Napoli. Mac Rumors reports: Brothers Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato named their clothing brand "Steve Jobs" in 2012 after learning that Apple had not trademarked his name. "We did our market research and we noticed that Apple, one of the best known companies in the world, never thought about registering its founder's brand, so we decided to do it," the two told la Repubblica Napoli. The Barbatos designed a logo that resembles Apple's own, choosing the letter "J" with a bite taken out of the side. Apple, of course, sued the two brothers for using Jobs' name and a logo that mimics the Apple logo. In 2014, the European Union's Intellectual Property Office ruled in favor of the Barbatos and rejected Apple's trademark opposition. While the outcome of the legal battle was decided in 2014, Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato have been unable to discuss the case until now, as their claim on the brand was not settled until 2017. The two told la Repubblica Napoli that Apple went after the logo, something that may have been a mistake. The Intellectual Property Office decided that the "J" logo that appears bitten was not infringing on Apple's own designs as a letter is not edible and thus the cutout in the letter cannot be perceived as a bite. The report goes on to note that the company plans to produce electronic devices under the Steve Jobs brand.

10 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. That is one by phalse+phace · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ugly logo

  2. Bad legal decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not a fan of IP hoarding, but "Steve Jobs" implies that either Apple or Jobs (when he was alive) has something to do with the design of the Italian company's products.

    It's stupid that now Microsoft will have to trademark "Bill Gates" and "Satya Nadella", Amazon will trademark "Jeff Bezos", etc.

    1. Re: Bad legal decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Jobs also insisted on producing high quality products that justified the premium prices. Now that Jobs is dead, Apple's quality has definitely been in decline. They're coasting on the reputation that they built under the leadership of Jobs. For all of the criticism of Jobs, his name should be associated with high quality products.

    2. Re:Bad legal decision by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm not a fan of IP hoarding, but "Steve Jobs" implies that either Apple or Jobs (when he was alive) has something to do with the design of the Italian company's products.

      If a marketing shill like Musk can denigrate the name of one of the greatest engineers of all time like Tesla then some Italians absolutely have the right to make bullshit under the name of a bullshit artist.

    3. Re:Bad legal decision by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps it's simply clear to most people which one is an homage and which one is a simple cash grab.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    4. Re:Bad legal decision by houghi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And then there are companies that use the common word Word. Word, yo!

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    5. Re:Bad legal decision by blind+biker · · Score: 3, Informative

      If a marketing shill like Musk can denigrate the name of one of the greatest engineers of all time like Tesla

      Musk has done nothing to "denigrate" Tesla - if anything, Musk has raised awareness of Tesla and generously donated to the Tesla Science Center - one of the greatest memorials to the man. In fact, Musk's donations were so substantial that the work on the Center would have not been possible without them. Musk truly put his money, to the tune of millions of USD, where his mouth is.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  3. Steve Wozniak by jfdavis668 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Apple should rename itself to "Steve Wozniak" in retaliation.

  4. Re:erm by sg_oneill · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So, it's good that they won via fraud?

    I'm not sure what they lied to the court about? When you admit something, thats sort of the opposite to lying, and fraud requires that you lie about something.

    Regardless, this whole thing is about trying to get a payout out of apple. At some point apple is going to offer a big fat old payday to them to give up wth name. That, I suspect, is the end goal.

    --
    Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
  5. And they will soon fade into oblivion... by Picodon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Creating a brand name (and a logo) is one thing. Running a successful company, selling desirable products, is another. Given the large percentage of companies that fail, and given how crowded the clothing market is, they will probably soon disappear after this ephemeral hour of stolen glory, at which point Apple will probably be quick to snatch back the trademark. Not that Apple should own it, really. Jobs’ family should.