Apple Sued by iCloud Communications for Trademark Infringement
A company called iCloud Communications has filed a suit against Apple for trademark infringements in the US District Court in Arizona last Thursday (June 9) over Apple's new iCloud service which was unveiled a week ago at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.
iCloud Communications, which according to its website has been "a pioneer in the telecommunications industry since 1982", said that Apple's iCloud services are "closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud Marks" and that Apple's worldwide advertising campaign have led the media and the general public to associate the brand "iCloud" with Apple rather than iCloud Communications.
The suit does not specify how much iCloud Communications is asking from Apple for compensatory damages but it calls for "all profits, gains, and advantages" and "all monetary damages sustained". The suit also asks Apple to "deliver for destruction all labels, signs, prints, insignia, letterhead, brochures, business cards, invoices and any other written or recorded material” with the iCloud name and asks the tech giant to stop using the name "iCloud".
Trademark disputes are nothing new to Apple. The Cupertino-based company had been involved in litigations for the appleimac.com domain name in 1998; the domain name itunes.co.uk in 2005 vs. Cyberbritain Group Ltd; the iPhone trademark in 2007 vs. Cisco Systems; the iPad trademark in 2009 vs. Fujitsu; and the iAds name in May 2010 vs. Innovative Media Group, LLC. The tech giant's name itself, "Apple" was subject to dispute when Apple Corps, a record label and holding company founded by The Beatles, filed a trademark infringement suit against Apple Computer in 1978. All of these suits were either decided in favor of Apple Inc. or were amicably settled by Apple for varying amounts.
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