The word “podium” was first used in the year 1743. Apparently, Apple thinks it belongs to them. Apple issued a cease and desist letter to Pivotal, mainly because of the use of the word “pod” in their iPhone stand, named Podium. Continue reading for an excerpt of the cease-and-desist letter and what Pivotal had to say in return.
The letter claims that “the term POD has also been adopted and used extensively in the marketplace by consumers as an abbreviation to refer to Apple’s IPOD player. The IPOD and POD marks indicate to consumers that a broad range of products, including portable electronic devices, computer software, and related goods and services bearing those marks and marks similar thereto originate from or are sponsored or endorsed by Apple.”
“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, president of Pivotal.
[via TUAW]
APPLE OWNED!!!
March 19th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Wow. I think Apple’s trying a little too hard.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
LOL ridiculous maybe they are going to someone next for having an “i” in their product name
March 20th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
http://iriverinc.com/
Next up, iRiver!
March 21st, 2009 at 5:37 am
They havent sued telechoice in australia for releasing a Cover specifically for iphone called “Pod Mania”
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Hmmm, maybe they’ll sue the band POD next, who were around long before the iPod, lol.
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:56 pm
And then it’s on to everyone with the word “phone” in their brand names
March 27th, 2009 at 7:47 am
…and then on to anyone that puts “i” at the beginning of their product.
Or maybe anywhere in the word. Sooner or later, they’ll outlaw the letter “i” anywhere in any word! What’s Sesame Street going to do next time the show was brought to us by the letter I?!?!?!
March 30th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Looks like iKea is gonna be in trouble with Apple next…
April 6th, 2009 at 10:14 pm