It’s not exactly news that Apple has an army of lawyers who vehemently fight to protect Apple’s trademarks. You know – words like iPod, iPhone, iTunes… So if you want to avoid the Cupertino company’s wrath, best not stick iTunes in your site’s name, and avoid using Apple’s own logo. ]
Asher Moses over at the SMH has a story about Rowan Coe, a recruitment consultant from Brisbane who set up a blog to track iTunes Gift Card sales called iTunesonsale.com.au. Needless to say, Apple has pulled out the trademark card and ordered the site taken down for being infringing on the iTunes Trademark.
But as the guys from The Little App Factory discovered though, it’s pretty obvious that Apple has a hard lined approach to others using their brand names. And by that, we mean they don’t allow it at all. And just like The Little App Factory case, this situation has been remedied by Coe changing the site’s name to giftcardsonsale.com.au.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the story though is that Coe expected this at some point, but felt that because he was promoting iTunes gift cards, Apple would want to work with him. He told the Herald:
“I gave up on Apple a few years ago after hearing similar stories from other people cut down by Apple’s lawyers.”
“And I guess I expected some sort of issue eventually. I just thought that when it came they would realise my service is of benefit to everyone – consumers, retailers, artists and themselves!”
Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world. They didn’t get there by trying to support the little guys out there. So if you’re thinking of launching a site that has anything to do with Apple (or even if it doesn’t), just make sure you don’t even consider treading on Apple’s trademarks.
[SMH]