Apple sued over "Tiger," injunction sought

AppleInsider ^ | April 28, 2005 | AppleInsider Staff

[general_re]

Apple Computer has been slapped with a lawsuit by Tiger Direct Inc. for allegedly infringing its trademark with the new Mac OS X "Tiger'' operating system scheduled for release on Friday.

Tiger Direct, which sells computers and related products on the Internet, said Appke's Tiger OS threatens to dilute its trademarked name, according to Bloomberg, which has obtained a copy of the lawsuit.

The online retailer also accused Apple of deceptive and unfair trade practices in the lawsuit, filed today in federal court in Miami, Florida, Bloomberg said.

"Apple Computer has created and launched a nationwide media blitz led by Steven Jobs, overwhelming the computer world with a sea of Tiger references," Tiger Direct's attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

If the court grants Tiger Direct's request for an injunction, Apple's rollout of Tiger could be stopped.

Tiger Direct, which is based in Miami, Florida, has used its family of Tiger trademarks to sell computers and computer related products since 1987, the lawsuit said. The company owns trademarks on the names Tiger, TigerDirect and TigerSoftware.

The retailer said Apple's use of the name "is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the general purchasing public."

At the root of the issue appears to internet search results. Tiger Direct contends that Apple's use of the name has adversely affected its ranking amongst the Internet's largest search engines, Google and Yahoo, bumping the company from its usual spot in the first three results.

Tiger Direct has asked the federal court to block Apple from using the name, according to Bloomberg.

The online retailer is also seeking damages and legal fees.

[general_re]

Hopefully a pride of African tigers will bring lawsuit against Tiger Direct Inc. for using their name.

I don't think there are any tigers in Africa. Come to think of it, I don't think tigers travel in prides either ;)

[Doohickey]

Who?

[general_re]

Component and system vendor - they're probably best known for catering to the DIY PC builder. Pretty good deals, if you're not too offended by their legal maneuvering.

[general_re]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/

[Vermonter]

Google says you're correct about tigers not being found in Africa.

Google also found that: "Tigers are solitary animals. A group of tigers is called a 'streak'; usually it consists of a small group consisting of a mother and her cubs."

[general_re]

What do I win? ;)

[Ex-Dem]

Actually, come to think of it, didn't something similar happen with Firefox? The Mozilla folks originally named it Firebird, if I recall. I think some of the default folders created when you install Firefox are still labeled with "Firebird."

[Vermonter]

"What do I win? ;)"

A pat on the back for knowing your tigers ;-}

[MrsEmmaPeel]

And they waited until the day before Tiger's release, what a coincidence. The phrase "duty to mitigate" comes to mind.

I bet they contacted Apple and Apple brushed them off. Apple has repeatedly walked over other people's trademarks; for example:

• iCal
• FontBook
• iTools
• xTools

These products existed under that name long before Apple decided to create a product with the same name.

[general_re]

Actually, come to think of it, didn't something similar happen with Firefox?

I believe you are correct.

[Doohickey]

I was being facetious (I'll work on it).

They've got some good prices, by the way...

[Capt. Tom]

I think I'll join the suit and go after both of them.

[general_re]

LOL - sorry, didn't mean to step on your sarcasm ;)

[isthisnickcool]

So? Apple is calling it's new OS tigerdirect.com?

Maybe they should change it to "striped cat"?

What silliness...

[BunnySlippers]

I vote for suing major liberal Bill Gates for coming out with Longhorn. What about Longhorn Beer?

[zoyd]

If you're considering buying from Tiger Direct and your purchase involves any sort of rebate, I'd suggest you Google "Tiger Direct rebate" before clicking on the 'Buy' button.

[Stellar Dendrite]

"What goes around comes around and I'm rooting for Tiger Direct."

Me too.....

[cynwoody]

Morons! Apple is using "Tiger" as an internal code name, not as a trade name. It's a well-accepted practice. The OS will be rolled out as OS X 10.4 or such, not as Tiger.

The current release of Java (1.5) was also codenamed Tiger. The upcoming Java release is codenamed Mustang, another trademark, if I'm not mistaken.

Microsoft's code name Longhorn, by the way, refers to the Longhorn Saloon & Grill, located at the Whistler Ski Resort in British Columbia.

[general_re]

Well, except that Sun didn't splash "Tiger" all over the JDK/J2SE pages, and Apple has. I'm not so sure that's going to fly for them.

[Betis70]

>>Mozilla folks originally named it Firebird, if I recall.

Yup. They had to change it because on an obscure piece of software named Firebird--not even a web browser, but a relational database.

http://firebird.sourceforge.net/