The Age article

Apple has been dealt a severe blow having been told that it no longer has a monopoly on the letter "i" as a prefix for all its products.

A trademarks tribunal has knocked back Apple's bid to stop a small company from trademarking the name DOPi for use on its laptop bags and cases for Apple products.

The California-based technology company argued that the DOPi name - which is iPod spelt backwards - was too similar to its own popular portable music player which has sold in excess of 100 million units worldwide.

Sheesh, what a bully!

DOPi is a pretty clear take-off though, hahaha. Even still, Apple are the industry bully with this ridiculous (and massive) court cases against tiny little businesses.

Owned, Apple.

sif you can own a letter in the alphabet.

(10:12:51) (heardy) http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mp3s/apples-future-wont-be-brought-to-you-by-the-letter-i-20100312-q27r.html

I was all over this earlier today, therefore I am cool too, I just didn't make the thread :p

all the new Hyundai's have an prefix now... i30, iload etc etc

I bet Senuti will be sighing with relief

last edited by HerbalLizard at 11:22:30 12/Mar/10

iDontCare

DOPi is a pretty clear take-off though, hahaha.

I didn't see it until it said it was iPod spelt backwards... I still don't see how it is similar to iPod...totally different... :)

sif you can own a letter in the alphabet.

I agree mate... but it's not like there isnt patents/ownership on paint colours, genes (as in blood), plant seeds, words and even knowledge/information.

The whole patent/trademark thing is getting beyond a joke :(

Wonder if anyone has patented the idea of the patent, so people would have to pay royalties to think of patenting something

trademarking is a joke. Patenting is max, what 25 years? Then it's free market!

I'd also like to know what blood gene's are patented and why?

iVibe will be happy too.

We've seen this before with Microsoft trying to own "windows" in the 90's, they lost aswell.

iLOL at apple

sif you can own a letter in the alphabet.

Better watch out cause Apple will be after you next.

Question is, is infi a name or acronym.

i'venofuckingidea

ooh man gonna need the fire brigade to put out _those_ flames

You mean the flames of my loins for your hot and sweaty ass Jim?

fag

yeh

Its also worth bearing in mind, trademarks are only registered within particular market segments.

If I want to create a range of weed killer products called the iPod weed killer, or McDonalds weed killer, I believe that is not a problem because there is no chance of confusion between my weed killer and Apple's music device or the fast-food restaurant.

I dunno, I'd still be putting "Not a hamburger, DO NOT EAT" on the label if I were you nats

HurricaneJim, the name does not stand for anything, it is simply meant to provoke discussion, much like you are doing...

You mean the flames of my loins for your hot and sweaty ass Jim?

fag

Being a Grandfather tends to disprove your theory young product of fat.

HurricaneJim, the name does not stand for anything, it is simply meant to provoke discussion, much like you are doing...

So in 15219 posts it's finally done it.....biblical fail if ever there was

i think my sexuality got questioned.

I dunno, I'd still be putting "Not a hamburger, DO NOT EAT" on the label if I were you nats

Haha for serial.

sif you can own a letter in the alphabet.

Yeah, you can only own multiple letters.

anyone dopi enought to believe that's anything other than an extremely poor an see-through rip off deserves to be relegated to a life of apple only products

Apple doesn't have to stop using it, and they shouldn't unless the iProductName market gets cluttered with s***.

The problem is that to be brutally honest, Apple's the only company where the i is used tastefully. It especially annoys me when app developers prefix their apps with the letter i. It just looks stupid.

I didn't see it until it said it was iPod spelt backwards... I still don't see how it is similar to iPod...totally different... :)

Me either, I read it as dopey

Apple's the only company where the i is used tastefully. It especially annoys me when app developers prefix their apps with the letter i. It just looks stupid.

says the person who works at apple. Personally I think it's stupid because the device isn't alive, it can't declare itself to be. They should have been miPod & miPhone because it's "my" device.

p.s. cars have had an i in their name since they started being fuelinjected and possibly even before that so hey how about you f*** off apple, you don't own 'i'.

last edited by iWhoop at 18:58:39 12/Mar/10

man, im happy anytime apple loses out on anything

haha, f*** apple.

also lol @ hurricanejim's failing/flailing in this thread.

Spoiler:
i originally typed flailing, changed it to failing, then realised both work! aren't words great!? unless you try to patent them D:

man, im happy anytime apple loses out on anything

this.

I'm so sick of s*** companies putting the i on front of everything, it's just generic and lame.

The problem is that to be brutally honest, Apple's the only company where the i is used tastefully. It especially annoys me when app developers prefix their apps with the letter i. It just looks stupid.

What the f***? iPad doesn't look stupid? Get the f*** out.

isnack 2.0 is apparently available

I didn't see it until it said it was iPod spelt backwards... I still don't see how it is similar to iPod...totally different... :)

Same.

The problem is that to be brutally honest, Apple's the only company where the i is used tastefully. It especially annoys me when app developers prefix their apps with the letter i. It just looks stupid.

Uh, what? How the hell is it more "tasteful" when Apple do it? iNoun. That's all they're doing, just like anyone else who uses it.

man, im happy anytime apple loses out on anything

f***ing oath. They're a pack of wankers.

What the f***? iPad doesn't look stupid? Get the f*** out.

Well yeah but lets forget the iPad for now.

Uh, what? How the hell is it more "tasteful" when Apple do it? iNoun. That's all they're doing, just like anyone else who uses it.

I should have said in the domain of computing and tech. The problem with other people using the prefix is that its so tied to Apple's consumer product culture that it sounds lame when others do. That's essentially what I was trying to say..

</end-opinion-on-subjective-topic>

Yeah because when I hear "Hyundai i30" the first thing I think of is "oh hey it must be made by apple". Dude, you've been working for apple too long if you see anything with an i in it as being linked to apple, they've brainwashed you.

Does that mean when I go to a building yard and ask for some windows I'm lame for using "windows" to describe what I want because MS use it as their flagship OS? Should I start asking for "transparent material suitable for looking through" instead?

schmuck.

the i30 does promote iPod connectivity so they might have even paid apple for that, lol suckers

my corolla has ipod connectivity, ishould rebadge it as an irolla.

I guess steven still has issues over patents after all these years.

Apple's consumer product culture

I didn't know they had one of these.

iProductCulture

I was told anz has pattened that blue colour they use for their logo?

Good thing video ezy didn't patent their orange then

Cadbury have trademarked that colour purple.

OMG 1080i OMG APPLE INVENTED INTERLACING FFS!!!!

Wouldn't surprise me, considering interlacing sux. Progressive is where it's at.