On Wednesday, Apple won a court battle over the use of the "iBooks" trademark. A company called Black Tower Press had sued Apple in 2011 claiming that it had obtained the name when it purchased another publishing company. The latter had used the "iBooks" imprint for a line of sci-fi and horror novels. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote ruled that consumers would not be confused by the two companies using the same name.
"They have offered no evidence that consumers who use Apple’s iBooks software to download ebooks have come to believe that Apple has also entered the publishing business and is the publisher of all of the downloaded books, despite the fact that each book bears the imprint of its actual publisher."-U.S. District Judge Denise Cote
Additionally, Judge Cote noted that the word "iBooks" was describing books sold over the internet while Black Tower only used the word together with its light bulb illustration. Perhaps the topper was that while Black Tower Press did not register the title, Apple first received a license to use the name in 1999 to use for a multi-color line of computers. In 2010, Apple bought the entire trademark.
Apple's iBooks logo (L) and the one used by BlackTower Press
You don't have to be a lawyer or play one on television to want to go through the legal paperwork. Check out the decision below.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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