Apple challenges NYC bid for new 'Big Apple' logo
Apple Inc. filed a federal challenge to New York's trademark application for a new "Big Apple" logo, saying it's too similar to the stylized emblem found on iPhones, iPods and iMac computers.
Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., says the symbol for New York's "GreeNYC" initiative promoting energy efficiency and recycling is confusingly similar to the logo used by the electronics maker since 1977.
NYC & Company Inc., the city's nonprofit tourism and marketing office, filed the trademark application in May, seeking to play off of New York's "Big Apple" nickname. New York already has begun using the logo, which morphs the symbol for infinity (similar to a figure 8 on its side) with the outline of an apple, a stem and a single leaf.
The New York logo will cause "consumer confusion resulting in damage and injury" to Apple, and would "cause dilution of the distinctiveness" of Apple's trademark, the company said in a challenge filed Jan. 16 in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as previously reported by Wired.com.
New York responded on Feb. 26, asking the Trademark Office's appeals board to reject Apple's challenge and cancel one of Apple's 22-year-old logos, saying it was acquired through fraud, and isn't being used for its intended purposes.
12 Trademarks
According to the city, one of 12 Apple trademarks outlined in the challenge is fraudulent because it wasn't used on mugs, dishes, drinking glasses and wine glasses, as the electronics company claimed it would be in a 1985 trademark application.
GreeNYC is New York's plan to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030, and to encourage energy-efficient lighting, recycling and increased use of reusable shopping bags. Reusable organic cotton bags bearing the GreeNYC logo already have been sold by Whole Foods Market Inc. to reduce plastic-bag consumption.
Apple spokeswoman Susan Lundgren and NYC & Company spokeswoman Kimberly Spell didn't immediately provide comments when reached by phone today.
