Apple Inc. is an American multinational company headquartered in Cupertino, California. Apple being a technology company is famous for its consumer electronics along with computer software and online services. Apple has always been known to file numerous lawsuits against various companies and that too for the most curious reasons. The tech giant Apple has not been slow in this regard lately. As we know Apple has its fairly iconic logo which indeed represents its name.
Last Year in August 2020, Apple filed a lawsuit against Prepear for their logo which Apple thought was similar to their ‘iconic one’, as mentioned in a report by Hindustan Times Tech. Prepear is an app that enables its users to properly plan their meals and find new recipes, which is owned by a company called Super Healthy Kids.
The reason for Apple Inc. to file a lawsuit against Prepear was because Apple thought that their logo which consists of a fairly minimalistic fruit design with a leaf on the top, angled towards the right, might confuse people with the company’s famous Apple logo and says that it creates a similar commercial impression.
Not to mention that in actual court papers, Apple tried to rationalize how their Prepear’s logo can look like its Apple logo. Furthermore, Prepear accused the iPhone maker of engaging in bullying techniques that costs the company “thousands of dollars” and resulted in layoff for a minimum of one employee.
As per the reports, in response to this Russel Manson, co-founder and COO, Prepear launched a petition as a counter to “save the pear”. Although, Apple’s globally acclaimed logo may give Prepear an unfair commercial advantage, as reported by gizmochina.com.
The petition was for Apple to reconsider its decision to stand against opposing their small business. The petition reads that Apple has been filing lawsuits against small businesses like theirs who have fruit related logos by initiating an expensive legal action even when the companies aren’t in the same line of business as them and even when their logos don’t look somewhat similar to their iconic one.
The petition has gotten over 2.5 lakh signatures in Prepear’s favor but this doesn’t mean that Apple Inc. will drop the lawsuit against them, but may be willing to negotiate and solve the argument. The reports tell us that the resolution of the dispute might take place soon based on the filings done at the Appeal board along with the US patent & Trademark office’s Trial.
According to the recent rumors, Apple & Prepear are entering into settlement talks over the meal planning app’s logo. However, if the two companies cannot arrive at an agreement by January 23, 2021 or instead reach out to the Appeals board by then, the proceedings will continue further and the case will go on. Anyhow, either side of the lawsuit can decide to start the proceedings further without having to wait until that date.
As of now, it all really depends on whether or not, the tech giant Apple Inc. will give in.
