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February 14, 2007
Apple's attack dogs, pt. 256
Mike points us to a story in Des Moines in which Apple has sent a cease-and-desist order to a local bar demanding it stop using the name iPod Mondays, an event designed for iPod evangelists to gather and share their playlists.
ipod Mondays had been an event for a few years, and the bar owner said he'd received the blessings of a number of Apple employees.
Arguments over trademark ownership and enforcement can last longer than a bad opera, yet scores of ad-hoc, citizen-created communities have established reliable precedent that using a company's well-known trademark (tivocommunity.com and mini2.com are two easy examples who have tens of thousands of visitors) does not necessarily harm or dilute a trademark.
Other blogs that reference Apple's attack dogs, pt. 256:
you'd have thought apple would be more than happy with this viral type of thing...
Corporate legals gotta do something i guess...
OK...so how about iPOO -- iPOD Owners Original. Give a box of HUGGIES to the iPOD Owner with most Original playlist. When Apple, Inc. sues, they would have to demonstrate that iPOO is similar enough to iPOD -- that customers might mistake one for the other. Go POO!
Personally, I can imagine their signage and marketing-—probally pixelated, hand-written, Apple logos and bad pictures of iPods.
I don't think Apple needs to rely on local bars to help promote iPods. But if they wanted to, they should do it right and talk with Apple--if for no other reason, to ensure the integrity of the Apple image. Who knows, maybe if they did talk to Apple, they might have even gotten an iPod as a "giveaway."
Phillip -- As we've seen in some similar cases, cease-and-desist letters are sometimes sent by legal departments without the knowledge of people in marketing or PR, who surely must cringe when this happens. Hard to know if that's the case here, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
Arlene -- Eeeewww! But kinda funny!
Luke -- The bar owner said did talk with Apple prior to establishing the event and sent them weekly updates. He also said the local Apple store people told him his events helped sell iPods.
I actually had nearly weekly fights with LEGO legal about this same subject. They initially didn't want any fan groups using the LEGO logo, the name, the brick design, nothing.
I had argument after argument about the general concept, saying things like "would you prefer they that use a general "Brick Fan Club" name...which applies to any and all of our competitors as well as us?"
I think the problem is the position of power. When you're Apple (or LEGO in their case), it's easy to lose track of your fight for market position. Apple clearly believes, as Luke summarized, that they are in a position that fans just can't help them out in any significant amount. And that fans are SO willing to help that they'll bend over backwards to please the legal department.
Right.
heh. and pleasing legal is so much of what citizen marketers are all about... :)
