Another day, another trademark dispute for Apple. This time around publisher John T. Colby has filed a suit against Apple for its use of the term iBooks. Colby purchased the assets related to ‘ibooks’ in 2006 and 2007 from Byron Preiss, a New York publisher, who published a ton of books under the branding.
Normally some of these companies have a leg to stand on, but this time around it seems like Apple has a trademark of its own for iBooks (75182820), relating to “computer [ hardware and ] software used to support and create interactive, user-modifiable electronic books” from back in 1996. While Apple didn’t trademark the term itself back in 1996, they did have the trademark transferred to them prior to launching iBooks.
This one seems a little bit sticky, with two companies now holding a trademark for iBooks. This probably won’t be the last we hear about this one either.
According to Bloomberg, Apple’s Steve Dowling has declined to comment in a telephone interview. Go figure.
Article Via AppleInsider
