14
votes
Apple fight for a trademark with a Swiss fruit farmer organization called Fruit Union Suisse
Link information
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- Title
- Apple is suing Swiss fruit farmer over a decades-old apple logo
- Authors
- Andrew Paul
- Published
- Jun 20 2023
- Word count
- 458 words
Apple is trying to trademark a very simple image of an apple
Swiss farmers have used an image of the fruit in their logo for decades. The tech company is now suing them.
This type of behavior makes me want to downgrade myself as an Apple fan.
Join us, I've been an apple hater for over a decade.
Where did you read that ?
The only thing I see is Apple filling an appeal to a trademark application that was only partially accepted.
While it's cute to get some quote from a venerable institution (I think I sometime see their logo at the supermarket ?), here it's pure speculation from Fruit-Union Suisse.
Also, no mention that the logo is the one from Apple Corps (of the Beatles fame) ?
EDIT: OK, after reading a Hacker News comment, this image is precisely the one from Apple Corps that Apple Computers bought in 2007. So in reality it's a renewal of the trademark/logo ?
Also, why is the title describe "a farmer" while Fruit-Union Suisse is clearly not an individual?
Sorry if I sound aggressive, but needless outrage is not something I want to see in Tildes, and since this is a topic that happens to involve the country I'm living in, my fact checking reflexes are more prone to be activated.
I based the title from the link title. As a person from the US I didn’t realize Swiss farmers and Fruit Union Suisse could be used interchangeably. I’m not outraged. I just don’t understand how they consider a red Apple intellectual property when Apple is always synonymous with a black Apple. I don’t agree that all pictures of apples in the world automatically because part of apples trademark. It makes me rethink my relationship with Apple.
I'm really confounded on how Fruit Union Suisse's prior usage didn't end this whole thing immediately.
Even with a frivolous lawsuit, you can just run the other side out of money, basically. Especially with the army of lawyers Apple has.
It's particularly strange to me that Apple has a history of creating their own names for things that already exist and trademarking those. That precedent isnt really applicable in this case, but I think it's quite the stretch that there would be a confusion between a single country fruit growers' union and a global tech company with global recognition. The logos aren't even similar enough that I would go "hmm"
Money. It's always the money.