Apple trademarks the rectangular box
- added May 13, 2008
- 5 responses
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- kushan
- added this
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Apple has been granted a trademark for the shape of the iPod, essentially giving it exclusive rights to make a box with a screen and a wheel:
The design of a portable and handheld digital electronic media device comprised of a rectangular casing displaying circular and rectangular shapes therein arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
Who decides that last point, we have no idea, but this will mean that Apple is likely to become much more aggressive in going after the knock-off iPod designs out there. One advantage of a trademark over a patent is that it doesn't expire. However, to keep a trademark, you need to defend it, which means lots of nasty letters to manufacturers. Otherwise, the shape of the iPod could end up like the name "Hoover" (now the English for vacuum cleaner).
Ridiculous? Perhaps. But if McDonald's can register "I'm going to McDonald's" and T-Mobile can lay claim to the color pink, then a pretty arrangement of shapes seems almost sensible.
Credit: Wired.com
The design of a portable and handheld digital electronic media device comprised of a rectangular casing displaying circular and rectangular shapes therein arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
Who decides that last point, we have no idea, but this will mean that Apple is likely to become much more aggressive in going after the knock-off iPod designs out there. One advantage of a trademark over a patent is that it doesn't expire. However, to keep a trademark, you need to defend it, which means lots of nasty letters to manufacturers. Otherwise, the shape of the iPod could end up like the name "Hoover" (now the English for vacuum cleaner).
Ridiculous? Perhaps. But if McDonald's can register "I'm going to McDonald's" and T-Mobile can lay claim to the color pink, then a pretty arrangement of shapes seems almost sensible.
Credit: Wired.com
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This is a bit ridiculous, but I think Apple's doing it to protect their design and iPod-clones for the most part. Not that anyone would fall for those cheap knockoffs, anyway.
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- Konstantino
- 3 months ago
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It seems ridiculous, strictly because we see iPods everyday now. A few years ago this wouldn't have been a big deal.
It is a proprietary design after all.
It's just become the Kleenex of the mp3 player. -
I actually don't see a big deal with this. Why shouldn't Apple's designers be able to protect their product designs? I think Apple has a much better case than when T-Mobile registered their colour.
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Me neither, I think it's there to look out for the designers more than anything which is fair enough. Personally, I don't think there's many Mp3 players out there that look as smooth as an iPod. -
I just think that everyone should stop going for the iPod. I thought it was all about being different and having your own "style". But everyone loves the iPod so much is people have to copy the iPod.
And that's where the problem is, the people who don't buy iPods quite often do it so they have something different. So they're not just going to buy something pretty much the same.-
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- superjake2004
- 3 months ago
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