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Remember way back in May (I know, I’ve slept since then too) when our sister site had to change its name from MYiPhone to MYiTablet? This was prompted by a brief meeting our own Vincent had with Steve Jobs where he was told to change the name because Apple has “a team of lawyers to go after that kind of stuff.” We tried to warn the other sites using the iPhone name to get out while the getting was good. Those of you that didn’t heed our warning are likely sweating bullets today.
It was only a matter of time, really. When Steve Jobs tells you that they’ll come after your domain name, then you should really listen. Sites such as ModMyiPhone & EverythingiPhone, have gotten their official letters from Apple’s legal team. You can always try to fight the man, but I doubt you’ll get far. Some sites are changing their names to use “iFone” rather than “iPhone,” but one has to wonder if Apple still won’t go after them for sounding too similar.
I still think that it’s a bit sad that companies like Apple will go after fan sites that actually promote their products. These sites aren’t trying to find confusion, or cash in on Apple’s empire, but rather they’re a banding together of enthusiasts that love to share knowledge and experiences.
Actually Apple, Inc. has no choice but to pursue illegal appropriations of the company’s trademarked names. It is not enough to trademark the name. You have to use the name on products and in marketing materials (which, of course Apple is) and you have to defend the name with cease and desist letters and in court, if necessary. If left unchecked, eventually Apple could lose their trademark. It has nothing to do with intent. In other words Apple cannot just to decide to pursue for-profit sites and leave the fan sites alone. Both are equal as a potential chink in the trademark armor.
i soo agree with your last sentence!!
Yah, we had the other domain ready just in case….
It WAS mentioned to us when we launched. Might wanna prep some new domains here too, you’d think there’d be trademark issues with things like “apple-touch.com” and “motorazr.com” too. ;)
All in good fun…
I can’t say much about the apple-touch domain, but we’re actually in the clear for motorazr. We actually owned the domain before they came up with the name.
and what about google-phone.com? you guys are just asking for google to delete all of your sites from the their index. :)