Henk van de Goor's Bloggers@large

Ok guys & girls, Apple just made it to my shitlist. Not that I own a iPod or any Apple hardware anyway, but jeez folks, what the heck is wrong with Steve? Apple has issued yet another so-called 'cease and desist' order at a company called Podcast Ready, claiming that the terms "Podcast Ready" and "myPodder" infringe upon its trademarks and confuse consumers. The whole idea that Apple is claiming ownership of the word "podcast," which obviously originated from "iPod" but is now defined as a general term used for digital audio shows that aren't necessarily affiliated with one brand more than another, is just bullshit - excusez le mot. Apple has been cracking down on use of the word "pod" by all sorts of parties, even though its trademark is only for the word "iPod." Now, I understand that a company would like to protect its rights for certain products and such, but this is ridiculous. I wonder if die-hard Apple fans are going to downplay this and take Apple's side in this or if they are going to let Apple know they are taking this too far?

First I thought it had to do with fear of trademark "dilution". A little explanation on that concept: years ago (I think in the 1950's) a Dutch company called Hunter Douglas marketed some new windowblinds called "Luxaflex". That was a brandname. But it was so succesful that soon other windowblinds that looked like it, were being referred to as luxaflex as well. So the brandname became more or less a generic name. Off course Apple would not want that to happen to their products.

However, the folks at ZDnet dug a little deeper, and it seems that there are 3 reasons for Apple slapping legal notices on any company using "Pod" in their names:

• Apple itself is seeking a Trademark for "IPodcast."
• Apple has been experiencing some significant difficulties getting final approval from the USPTO for the iPod trademark.
• Finally, Apple has trademark applications on file for significantly expanding the iPod brand beyond devices, to other merchandise.

All nice and well, but this is just too much. Suddenly it seems like Apple is getting more from Microsoft than just money and shares. It looks like they got infected with their legal ethics as well.

Maybe if we just should call it ZuneCast then? Is that what Apple wants? I smell a lot of free-publicity for Microsoft here!