Apple sues a film creator because there is "Apple"in the title o.O

[Nord1ing]

Summary:

Apple has sent a notice of opposition and initiated lawsuit against indie comedie - a parody on marvel's superheros.

Source: iphone in Canada

Quote

Apple is reportedly taking a break from fending off government regulators and fighting court-mandated changes to its App Store policies to file a lawsuit of its own against Ukrainian film director Vasyl Moskalenko, who wrote and directed the Kickstarter-backed action-comedy movie Apple-Man.

 

Here’s the basic premise of the short film, Apple-Man, which is downright creative in its own right:

Apple-Man is an action comedy film, that pays homage to famous superhero sagas. The main character is a superhero Apple-Man who has a superpower to levitate apples. The film was crowdfunded through Kickstarter, with pledges reaching €101,717 (about US$120,000). The principal photography of Apple-Man was shot in Kyiv, in authentic Ukrainian locations, including Kyiv fortress.

Moskalenko told iPhone in Canada that Apple filed a notice of opposition and initiated trial proceedings against Apple-Man when the movie made it into post-production.

 

Back in 2020, the iPhone maker used legal means to dissuade a small business from trademarking a pear logo for its meal planner and grocery list app.

While the Apple-Man director said his movie has already been approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), Apple is seeking to have the trademark registration application denied by mounting “an aggressive opposition.”

Apple has initiated trial proceedings against Moskalenko over concerns that consumers are likely to believe that Apple-Man is “associated with, or approved, endorsed, or provided by Apple,” the company said in a 467-page court filing.

 

[Avocado Diaboli]

This isn't really surprising. It concerns trademarks. As a trademark owner, you have to be aggressive and litigate every possible (and even imagined) violation. If you don't, you run the risk that your trademark will be seen as genericized to the point where you lose the exclusive ability to own that trademark. Google hates it if people refer to "online search" as "googling" for that exact reason. Apple Inc. themselves have also been on the receiving end of this when they were sued multiple times by Apple Corps, the music label owned by the Beatles.