Apple threatens accessory maker over "Podium" stand
updated 05:00 pm EDT, Wed March 18, 2009
Apple trademark conflict
Apple's lawyers have issued a cease-and-desist letter to the accessory-maker Pivotal, claiming that the Podium iPhone stand infringes on the iPod trademark, according to Wired. The legal team argues that the word "Pod" has become commonly associated with the iPod, to the extent that using the prefix in Podium will confuse customers into falsely associating the product with Apple's line of media players.
"If you look at our product and then look up the word Podium in the dictionary, I think it becomes pretty clear where our branding inspiration came from," said Scott Baumann, Pivotal's president. "We were certainly surprised by the allegations and will be consulting with our legal counsel regarding this matter."
Apple had been criticized in 2006 for aggressively defending the iPod trademark by sending a number of cease-and-desist orders to companies using 'pod' in product names or materials. A company producing a device for tracking sales from arcade games had been threatened, along with a company making spandex notebook cases.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2008
Seriously?
I usually defend Apple in cases like this, because they're often right, but this is just going way too far. They need to get a bit of a sense of reality. Hopefully this company will stick up to Apple, who's being a bit of a bully in this case.