Apple has been allowed to retain iPad Mini as a trademark, but must now add small-print
to indicate that it is not claiming exclusive rights to the term ‘Mini’.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) had originally refused Apple the trademark on the basis that the
term ‘Mini’ was simply descriptive, but this objection has now been withdrawn
on condition that the company add a disclaimer.
The document also holds firm on the
requirement that Apple add a disclaimer to its application noting that it only
seeks to protect the term “mini” when used as part of the “iPad mini” name. The
disclaimer would allow other companies to use the “mini” term in their own
product names.
The disclaimer
requirement may be an attempt to bring some sanity back to trademark wars: when
Apple already holds the trademark to iPad, it’s unclear what benefit there is
in trademarking ‘iPad Mini’ specifically. Apple has been left in a worse
position than if it hadn’t applied for the trademark in the first place, and
it’s possible this was entirely intentional: the USPTO punishing what it sees
as a pointless application. [Source]
You can
follow me on Twitter, add me to your circles on Google+
or Subscribe to me on facebook
or YouTube.
You can also check my website
and blog
to keep yourself updated with
what is happening in the ever changing world of technology
No comments:
Post a Comment