IPAD Trademark Applications Pending for Apple and Fujitsu?
With the launch of the iPad today, is a trademark dispute brewing between Apple, Inc. and Fujitsu? The mark IPAD (U.S. Trademark Serial No. 77913563) was filed with the USPTO January 16, 2010 via the entity IP Application Development LLC, claiming a priority date of July 16, 2009 from an application filed in Trinidad and Tobago on July 16, 2009. There is a long list of goods related to computers and computer peripherals in the application.
Apple, to try and keep new products on the down low, used third-party companies to file IPAD trademark applications in Canada, Europe, and Hong Kong.
Interestingly enough, a quick search of the USPTO website shows several filings for the mark IPAD for a variety of goods. Of particular interest is the application recently approved for IPAD, Serial No. 76497338, owned by Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. for hand-held computing device for wireless networking in a retail environment. After the Fujitsu application was approved and published for opposition, Apple, Inc. filed an extension of time to oppose the application. The extension will expire February 28, 2010.
While Apple, Inc. may file an opposition citing likelihood of consumer confusion with its marks iPod and the recently registered iPhone, Apple, Inc. is not the applicant for the IPAD trademark and cannot at this time base an opposition on the IPAD mark. Because extensions of time to oppose are not assignable and inure to the precise party that filed for the extension of time, IP Application Development LLC (the current owner of the IPAD application) has no grounds upon which to oppose the pending Fujitsu IPAD trademark application.
More information about the possible trademark dispute is available here.
UPDATE: Tech Crunch reports that Apple, Inc. has not secured any top level domain names for IPAD. Interesting.
