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Now That Apple Has A Trademark On 'There's An App For That,' Will It Sue Sesame Street?
from the steve-jobs-v.-big-bird dept
You may recall that, last year, Apple got quite upset at Verizon Wireless for running commercials that parodied Apple's "there's an app for that" tagline, with "there's a map for that," which tried to highlight the better coverage found on Verizon Wireless' network. Well, last month, Apple was officially awarded the trademark for "there's an app for that," so now we can wait to see who Steve Jobs decides to sue.
Personally, I think he should go after Sesame Street. CNET points out that Sesame Street just did a video mocking the "there's an app for that," tagline which they used in a song about the "iPogo" device. Considering Apple's aggressive nature when it comes to trademark issues, you can see how it might not be happy with the iPogo/There's an App for That sketch, but even Steve Jobs wouldn't stoop to suing Big Bird, would he? Or, maybe there's an app for that kind of lawsuit, too...
Personally, I think he should go after Sesame Street. CNET points out that Sesame Street just did a video mocking the "there's an app for that," tagline which they used in a song about the "iPogo" device. Considering Apple's aggressive nature when it comes to trademark issues, you can see how it might not be happy with the iPogo/There's an App for That sketch, but even Steve Jobs wouldn't stoop to suing Big Bird, would he? Or, maybe there's an app for that kind of lawsuit, too...
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sesame street is getting edgy
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Old Spice
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Nice Irony...
Got to go before my head explodes.
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Trademark Monster?
Oh, T is for trademark, Apple's coming after me....
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Re: Nice Irony...
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The Sesame Street video is a straight parody, and should be protected by Fair Use provisions.
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Re:
"its only fair use when I say its ok" doesn't fly.
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Re: Trademark Monster?
L is for lawsuit, lawyers legally laundering money
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It should be okay...
Should the people who wrote "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" sue the people who wrote The ABCs or Baa Baa Black Sheep because they have the same beat?
How about the billions of items that donned the "I" before whatever it was, the I(whatever)s out there. Why isn't Apple suing these people? It is the same thing.
A company taking advantage of a saturated jingle or phrase is nothing new.
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Apple Overreach
"There's an app for that" consists of 5 common words strung together in a particular way; if I say "There is an application for that", there is no infringement, just like "I found an app for that". Likewise, I doubt if you can get sued for "Google has an app for that"... it would be different if Apple trademarked "an app for that", which would ostensibly cover the variations.
Did they trademark "Think Different"?
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Re: It should be okay...
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Re: Re: It should be okay...
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Re: Re: Trademark Monster?
There, fixed that for you.
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Re: Re: It should be okay...
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Might just as well as he's wrestled the other's Steve's crown away from him everywhere else except the chair throwing gold medal. ;-)
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Trademark Rights
It isn't going after Sesame Street for a number of reasons, including that Sesame Street is not using the tagline/phrase as a trademark for any good or service. And, even if it were, it would be difficult for Apple to demonstrate that the relevant consumers are confused as to the source of the products/services; similarly, it is unlikely that anyone believes that Apple and Sesame Street are affiliated (or that there is some kind of sponsorship or licensing deal between them).
(Disclaimer - this is not intended to be legal advice, just my observations based on the few facts out there.)
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Hmm...
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Apple Commercial
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Subject
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brought to you by the letter I
And the whole alphabet looses a letter.
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Re:
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