In yet another high profile case the company’s professional indemnity team will most likely have to tackle, consumer electronics giant Apple has been sued by an online media company in California over the naming of a new mobile-advertising platform for the iPhone.
Innovate Media Group – based in Costa Mesa in Southern California – are claiming that they own the ‘iAds’ moniker already, having trademarked the term back in 2008. The company alleges that Apple have knowingly infringed their intellectual property rights by using it on the iPhone platform. The lawsuit also makes mention of other instances of copyright infringement that Apple and its products have been embroiled in.
The complainants, Innovate, claim they attempted to contact Apple and CEO Steve Jobs in relation to the trademark dispute after the launch event for Apple’s new operating system, iOS 4, back in April 2010. Innovate claim they received no response from Apple nor the company’s most recent acquisition, mobile-advertising group Quattro Wireless. The lawsuit subsequently states:
“As a result of Apple’s refusal to acknowledge Innovate Media’s ‘iAds’ marks, and blatant and wilful infringement of those marks,”
“Innovate Media has been left with little choice but to file this lawsuit seeking injunctive relief, damages and other relief.”