My first new blog Little guy claims foul in dispute with Apple

Little guy claims foul in dispute with Apple

A Saanich web design school is holding its ground, following a threat by Apple to take legal action if the local firm does not change a corporate logo it has used since 2005.

Calling his company a dedicated customer that uses Apple hardware and software almost exclusively in its operation, Victoria School of Business and Technology vice-president Christopher Boag said he and partner Dieter Gerhard were surprised to receive a strongly worded letter with no advance warning.

"It was a total shock," he said. "It was like the small guy was kind of getting blown away and Apple was pushing hard in order to get us to (submit to their demands)."

Boag and Gerhard argue that the apple is a "traditional representation of education" and that the logo in question, which incorporates the mountain logo of a sister company and has the words VSBT in one corner, in no way can be confused with the Apple logo.

"It's 100 per cent unique. It's an original idea that came from a flow and a process we worked through here in the office," Boag said. "We've never had anyone make a comparison between the Apple logo and the VSBT logo."

The computer giant believes otherwise.

A letter sent on behalf of Apple Inc. by the Toronto law firm of Baker and McKenzie, stated that VSBT's logo "reproduces, without authority, our client's Apple Design Logo which it widely uses."

It went on to say such use infringes upon Apple's trademark registrations and legal rights, which it claimed allow Apple the "exclusive right to use its trademarks and any confusingly similar trademarks and trade names" to market its products and services.

The letter said Apple is prepared to waive any potential punitive claims against VSBT if the company removes the apple component of its logo, refrains from using any Apple trademarks and co-operates with Apple to remove the VSBT logo from any third-party publications or websites.

Media lawyer David Sutherland said cases of trademark infringement often come down to whether there is a reasonable possibility of confusion between two entities on the part of the consumer.

"It's not so much whether it looks like the other guy's mark, as much as it is using it with something identified with the other person," he said, noting that both Apple and VSBT are both involved in the computer field.

He gave as an example a political cartoon in the Maritimes in which the Michelin Man was stepping on a worker during a factory strike. The judge ruled against trademark infringement since the cartoon was being used for comment, not as a trademark by another organization.

Boag knows his company couldn't fund an extended legal battle with deep-pocketed Apple, but he said the situation seems like a classic case of corporate bullying.

"It's a matter of them trying to push over the little guy, to some degree. They figure we're going to roll over and play dead, but we want to be more vocal."

In its classrooms, VSBT has 20 large-screen iMac computers and has another 20 on order, Boag said, in addition to nearly a dozen Mac laptops and a handful of iPhones used by staff.

"I feel ethically 100 per cent behind our decision," he said. "I just hope Apple can take a look at this and realize we're on their side."

Apple is no stranger to lawsuits relating to its logo. Earlier this year it challenged the City of New York in court over use of an apple logo used in the Big Apple's GreeNYC campaign. Apple Corps., the Beatles' corporate entity, battled the computer company for years over its use of the trademark and ultimately settled by allowing Apple the entire brand and agreeing to license certain other trademarks from the computer giant.

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