November 03, 2011, 11:09 AM —
The mighty international Apple Inc. fears consumers worldwide will be confused by a tiny restaurant in Luxembourg named AppleADay. Their slogan? "Balanced Fast Food." Apple's response? Threaten to sue.
Can you get a better David vs Goliath story? Three young people in Luxembourg worked with a dietician to create a bistro menu of fast food that's healthy. "We wanted to return to the original taste of the food," said one of the owners. Local authorities gave the name their approval of the name suggested by the bistro's communications company. The logo looks much more like a Georgia Peach logo than the Apple computer logo, but that's before the lawyers got involved.
Yes, Apple Inc. feels threatened by a 20-seat restaurant that sells only drinks, sandwiches, and desserts. Cease and desist letters appeared, and the three owners, with help from a legal friend, offered Apple a deal: we'll keep making sandwiches, not computers. So far, so good for the little guys making sandwiches.
Apple is stupid
-1 apple, this is ridiculous. apple user
Faifas on williambrownstreet.net
I wish Nature would sue Apple for dragging it's awesome fruit through the mire.
Iamaustrian on neogaf.com
I'm curious how Apple Inc. missed the AppleBee's restaurant chain.
grigy on news.ycombinator.com
I think I'll have some *****jacks for breakfast.
alr1ghstart on neogaf.com
There are hundreds of cafes called Apple, Big Apple, Red Apple... There are cities beiing referred to as Big Apple...
littleiffel on news.ycombinator.com
Apple must protect the brand
It is a shame that Apple do this, but copyright infringement requires the copyright holder to litigate to keep the copyright. Allowing any company (no matter how small and insignificant the company is) to potentially get away with copyright infringement can be used in a court of law in future copyright cases. Stupid, but that is the system!
Neil on williambrownstreet.net
They have the right to do so, but given the defendant's relative lack of resources, it's little more than legal bullying, especially since most courts would probably decide in favour of the defendants.
Jintor on neogaf.com
Trademarks are fairly limited, but Apple does have a trademark for Apple Cafe not just Apple.
Retric on news.ycombinator.com
This is about brand identity and brand awareness not about losing sales when someone mistakenly buys a sandwich instead of a Macbook.
travisbickle on neogaf.com
Given Apple's nature, I would be more apt to believe the story of Appleaday was using a hackintosh for their POS system.
padobson on news.ycombinator.com
System is screwy
they shouldn’t ever have the right to use such generic words, like “Apple”, “Windows”, etc.
simone on williambrownstreet.net
I think this just shows how ridiculous the idea of a trade mark is when it comes to words in the dictionary.
kitsune_ on news.ycombinator.com
Anybody remember when Apple Inc. swore to Apple Corps, the Beatles' production company, they would never get into the music business?
