Apple's press
release for the new 128GB iPad contains an unusual concession from the
company: the word "multitouch." Seriously. It's been more than five
years since Apple first introduced the iPhone, and it's never once used the
word "multitouch" — it's always been "Multi-Touch™" with
that charming unregistered trademark symbol.
"These
files are often large and highly detailed so having the thin and light iPad
with its Multitouch display, integrated camera and all-day battery life, is a
real advantage for iPad users to view, edit and share their AutoCAD data."
Never mind all
those questionable comma errors — check out that random capitalization of
"multitouch," like it's a proper noun. It's in a quote, so there's a
chance Apple didn't edit it, but that would be quite a branding error — like
letting a game developer call it the "iTouch" in an iPod touch press
release. Press releases like this are thoroughly vetted by lawyers before they
go out, and that random capital M literally made me laugh out loud. It's like
Apple finally gave up on the hyphen and trademark symbol, but couldn't quite
let go all the way. Then again, it has be hard after over five years of effort
that achieved virtually nothing.
Apple's used "Multi-Touch" since literally the first minute
Steve Jobs uttered the word, with a conspicuous pause between syllables and a
handy slide behind him displaying the hyphenated form. The goal, as with any
trademark, was to convince the public that "Multi-Touch" on Apple
devices is a proprietary technology somehow distinct from all the other
multitouch displays in the world. If you squint right and imagine you're a hotshot
young attorney with a bad BMW habit, it sort of makes sense, in the same way
that "E Ink" makes sense as a trademark. But it was always
unfortunate: here's Apple, the leader in minimal design, allowing its lawyers
to brutalize the perfectly functional word "multitouch" with two
capital letters, a hyphen, and a superscript. Gross.
Apple immediately applied to trademark "Multi-Touch" after the
iPhone was announced in 2007, and after five years of trying to convince
the Trademark Office that the word was "distinctive" to consumers,
the US Trademark Trial and Appeals Board finally shut things down about a year
and a half ago. "We are not sympathetic to applicant's arguments," wrote the court in September 2011, after citing numerous uses
of "multitouch" describe competitive products from the Palm Pre to
the Nexus One to various Windows PC. "It is not apparent... to what extent
'Multi-Touch' has made an impression on purchasers."
The defeat clearly took some time to set in at Cupertino: six months the
court denied Apple its registration, the company announced the Retina MacBook Pro, featuring a "glass
Multi-Touch™ trackpad." Four months later, the company announced the iPad mini, with a "stunning 7.9-inch
Multi-Touch™ display." Apple wasn't allowed to use the famous ® mark,
which indicates a formally protected registered trademark, but it could still
let people know it thought "Multi-Touch" was important enough to
merit the informal, unregistered ™ symbol. Not that anyone has ever cared.
Apple didn't respond to my request for comment when I reached out earlier
today, but I'm hoping the new iPad's "Multitouch" display is a sign
that common sense has finally prevailed in the halls of Apple Legal. That
capital M is a little weird, sure, but it's a start. After years of working the
legal system to protect what was unique about the iPhone in 2007, maybe Apple's
realized it's better off spending time and money making sure the iPhone stays
unique in 2013.
Update: Sources tell me that Apple does not traditionally use the ™ sign in
quotes from others, and that the company may still assert some trademark rights
to Multi-Touch. But that still doesn't explain the use of incorrect branding in
the new iPad's press release — again, it would be like using "iTouch"
in the release for a new iPod. [TheVerge]
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