Sustainable IT | Ted Samson » Apple fights NYC over green apple logo

April 07, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Apple fights NYC over green apple logo

TAGS: Apple

Look at this logo for a moment:

If you saw it on a reusable cloth shopping bag, would you think for a moment, "Hey, that must be Apple's new iBag!"?

Apparently, Apple is worried that's the case. The above logo is actually the emblem of New York City's GreeNYC campaign, the Big Apple's move to encourage denizens and visitors to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases.

In case you can't tell, the GreeNYC logo is a combination of the infinity symbol and a green apple, the implied message being something along the lines of, "Let's keep the Big Apple green for all eternity."

Apple maintains that the GreeNYC looks too much like its own corporate logo, which, of course, looks like this (in green):

The company has gone so far as to file a formal complaint with the U.S Patent and Trade Office against the GreeNYC logo, according to Wired, claiming that it will confuse people -- and potentially tarnish Apple's good name. "Any defect, objection or fault found with [GreeNYC's] goods and services marketed under [GreeNYC's] marks would necessarily reflect upon and seriously injure the reputation which [Apple] has established for its goods and services," the claim states.

(I can see it now: "Dude, my iBag ripped! I'm going to send hate mail to Steve Jobs.")

NYC's response, according to Wired: "'The city believes that Apple's claims have no merit and that no consumer is likely to be confused,' says Gerald Singleton, the intellectual-property lawyer representing the Big Apple. 'This well-known city is using its new design in a variety of contexts that have absolutely nothing to do with Apple Inc.'"

The next step, according to Wired: "A series of independent surveys -- what are known as mall-stop surveys -- to gauge people's reaction to the new logo, in order to see whether Apple's opposition holds any merit."

Posted by Ted Samson on April 7, 2008 10:36 AM

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