Posted on 04/28/2005 3:45:44 PM PDT by 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.
Thanks for the ping.
I don't know about that... check out Apple's home page:
http://www.apple.com/
Headline should read: An ailing, crappy online retailer sues Apple in a cheap attempt to boost revenue.
Yeah, this kind of thing seems to happen not so infrequently. Lindows was forced to change their name to Linspire after Microsoft complained that it was trading off the Windows trademark.
I remember getting a good laugh out of the corny name that the Lindows people chose to replace it with. I wasn't sure at the time why some of the commercial Linux distributions tend to go with odd, esoteric names like Lycoris and Xandros, but now that I think about it, it might just be because it's unlikely any other company would have chosen something similar.
The phrase "Freedom of Expression" is trademarked by a professor as a satirical stunt to protest this kind of stuff.
Didn't find Longhorn Software in a trademark search. Anyway, as long as it's not the release/marketing name, and remains just an internal codename, there's no possibility of infringement.
This reminds me of the trademark dispute over the name: "Taylor" as in "Taylor vineyards". One branch of the Taylors sold their vineyards & thus the use of their name. The New York Taylor branch did not. Yet they were forbidden to use their name on their wine labels. Bully Hill Vineyards, NY spent many years attempting to put their own family name on their own wine, and repeatedly lost. But they were not forbidden to use their address, which was "Greyton H. Taylor Memorial Drive" on the same label.
Must be something about the wine business - I believe that the Gallo brothers had a similar sort of falling-out and trademark dispute.
Has Tigerdirect sued other companies yet, such as
Paper tiger software
http://www.thepapertiger.com/
or Smile Tiger Software corp
http://www.smiletiger.com/
or Purple tiger
http://www.purpletiger.com/
or White Tiger software
http://stores.ebay.com/White-Tiger-Software
or just now got that hankering to sue
or where they just looking for deep pockets?
Can you show where Tiger Direct has published any software or operating system under then name "Tiger"? I looked at their site and it is all hardware... with third party software sales.
If TigerDirect is not producing any Tiger software, and since Apple is not producing any Tiger hardware, I doubt they can prevail.
In addition, single words are no longer trademarkable. No one can Trademark a word... they can trade mark a word that is also a logo...
I searched their site for products named "Tiger" and found only 8 items... but guess what?!?!?!
Items 6 through 8 are listed as NEW ITEMS! The new items are:
POWERMAC G5/2000 w/TIGER
POWERMAC G5/2300 w/TIGER
POWERMAC G5/2700 w/TIGER
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Microsoft doesn't have a registered trademark for Longhorn either. Either party could allege prior use, and both appear to be using it for marketing purposes.
More seriously, had you ever heard of any of those before googling them up? I hadn't, but I did know Tiger Direct. In order for a lawsuit to go anywhere, you have to show a substantial likelihood that people will conflate your trademarked company/product with someone else's company/product. If nobody's ever heard of the other guy, you're not going anywhere because there's no likelihood of confusion.
My striped tiger cat's suing BOTH companies because people are starting to mistake her for a computer. The last straw was when someone tried to plug her tail into an electric outlet. She's suing for misuse of her name, and for pain and suffering.
If you cannot trust a Lord High Executioner, who can you trust?
.
Yes, I like to see a tiger
From the Congo or the Niger,
And especially when lashing of his tail!-- The Mikado.
Longhorn isn't an actual product yet, so it's kind of hard to call it "marketing". "Chicago" became Windows 95, "Cairo" became Windows 2000, "Whistler" was released as XP - I don't expect "Longhorn" to be the actual release name. Given that, I can't see that really going anywhere.
Ah, yes - the famed naturalists and explorers, Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan ;)
I Googled as I never heard of TigerDirect. The only goods I associate with Tiger are the Uniroyal Tiger Paws and a good Nepalese beer called Tiger.
Fair enough.
It's a silly lawsuit. Only idiots would be confused between a computer operating system and a direct sales company.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.