Apple, the company that once revolutionized the mobile phone and personal computer markets, appears to be going off the deep end. Much like what Monster Cables was doing in the 2000s, Apple now thinks it should own the mere depiction of the fruit it’s named after.
The news came down from Wired that businesses specializing in the fruit are worried about the Tim Cook-run Apple pushing to own the “intellectual property rights over depictions of apples.” The company’s journey to own the IP rights of one of the world’s most recognizable fruits isn’t to be taken lightly.
Apple has, so far, filed several requests all over the globe to grant it the privilege of being the sole owner of the likenesses of the genus Malus. According to the article, four countries have given into Apple Inc: Armenia, Turkey, Israel, and, surprisingly enough, Japan.
But why do this? Apple’s logo is iconic and easily recognizable as is. What use would an image of various types of red and green fruits be to the company? It could be to keep other companies from using an apple-shaped logo like theirs. Or they want to be the only game in town (really the planet) that uses fruit as its sole identifier.
This idea is backed up by the tech company’s litigation over the oddest fruit-based companies and even a musical artist named Frankie Pineapple. It has got to go if it’s close, even if the logo is shaped like a friggin’ pear!
Bullying smaller companies into complying with what initially appears like an innocuous request can turn into a slippery slope. The scheme all comes down to getting several businesses to agree that all Apple wants is to own the rights to a black-and-white image of nature’s candy.
This seemingly small request can spiral into Apple taking ownership of several variations of that image, according to the University of Bern’s Cyrill Rigamonti. He asks, “… is there a likelihood of confusion with regard to some other not-exactly-identical apple?”
Have you ever seen an image of an apple on a business’s sign and confused it for a technology company? Let us know what you think about the tech giant’s pursuit below.
[Source: Wired] [Source: SFGate] [Source: Futurism] [Source: The Verge] [Source: WIPO]ClownfishTV.com strives to be an apolitical, balanced and based pop culture news outlet. However, our contributors are entitled to their individual opinions. Author opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of our video hosts, other site contributors, site editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. This website contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. We disclaim products or services we have received for review purposes, as well as sponsored posts.
