With this in mind, I am surprised that the R.C.A. folks has not sued Sirius Radio for a similar kind of infringement. R.C.A. of course is the Radio Corporation of America- surely a company dedicated to delivering radio broadcasts. Sirius Radio is a satellite-based radio delivery service.
Why do I even ask this? Because Sirius uses a dog as a company icon, and so does R.C.A. It’s interesting to me that such a parallel situation exists and yet we’ve never heard boo from R.C.A. about a trademark infringement on the use of a dog image by a deliverer of radio broadcasts.
Why? In the case of Apple v.s. Apple, it’s about content delivery and exclusive rights therein using the name Apple, but both of these radio companies are using identical ( well, nearly identical but surely the same IDEA ) icons.
First, Apple Computer had a contract with Apple Records saying they wouldn’t get into the music business: that’s the basis for the suit.
RCA has no such contract with Sirius.
Second, there is no RCA anymore; it was bought up by General Electric years ago.
Third, the RCA trademark isn’t a dog: it’s Nipper the Dog. Sirius uses a dog, but that’s obviously a reference to the dog star. Also the dog is not shown listening to a gramophone, as the RCA logo does. RCA can’t stop people from using dogs as their logo; they can only sue if the logo can be confused with theirs.
Fourth, RCA never did radio broadcasts; they sold radios and records. It was their subsidiary, NBC, that did the broadcasting. The Nipper logo was never used for broadcasting: it was used for radios and recordings. Since the Sirius and RCA logos were for different products, much like Apple Computers and Apple Records were different products. There’s not much of a case for infringement.
Sirius dog is the dog of the constellatin “Sirius”, and is drawn that way; RCA’s dog is a photographed pet beagle who mistakes the sound coming from a victrola for being his master, and has recently been joined by a puppy. RCA and Sirius are spelled and pronounced differently, while “Apple” and “Apple” aren’t. There’s no concievable chance that the two trademarks can be confused.
Well, the original Apple trademark suit decision was (IMHO) pretty much a travesty. After all, there was really no way to confuse a Granny Smith apple with a rainbow colored apple with a bite out of it. And Apple Computers was clearly different from Apple Corp. Records.
Once again: Apple Computer signed a contract saying they’d refrain from entering the music business; that’s the basis for the suit.
Second, the logos are not the issue. It was the use of the word “Apple” in both company names. Apple Records had no issue with Apple making computers at all and agreed with your point about them being different at the time.
But that’s not relevant. Apple computer is being sued because they are going into the music business, despite promising (via an enforceable contracts) they would not.
Apple Computer signed an agreement. They are supposed to abide by it. Or can anyone just tear up a contract because situations change?
There was no decision. They settled out of court, because Apple Records agreed that despite the blatant and openly admitted trademark violation, nobody would confuse a computer company for a music label. So Apple Computer signed a contract that they’d never go into the music buisness, so that the two Apples could never be in conflict.
They went into the music buisness, and broke the contract. At the very least, Apple Computer owes Apple Music whatever they would have gotten had they gone to court, plus interest.
The 1991 agreement said that Apple computer couldn’t distribute music media, but specifically allowed data transfer. The question is whether .aac files are music media or data transfer.
I’ve read in multiple places the logo IS part of the issue
“In the suit, Apple Corps is seeking an injunction requiring Apple Computer to remove the bitten-apple logo from iTunes.”
“Mr. Vos argued on Wednesday that although services like iTunes were permissible, Apple Computer should stay out of the music business if it uses the logo, a cartoonish apple with a neat bite out of its side. Apple Corps’ logo is a green Granny Smith apple.”
Well, hey, if two companies using dogs in their logos is an issue, how about all of the companies which have people in their logos? Any two people will look a lot more alike than two dogs of different breeds, or the Sirius and RCA dogs.
Incidentally, I’m not sure how one can get that the Sirius logo is modelled on the constellation of Canis Major, since the CMa dog is facing right and jumping, while the Sirius dog is facing left and sitting.
RCA has been defunct since 1987, it was absorbed by General Electric which broke it up and sold off the various divisions. Talisman Brands currently licenses the RCA and Nipper/His Master’s Voice trademarks. Any new products you see today with the RCA logo were manufactured by several other companies that licenses the RCA name, including RCA Records which today is owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
To begin with, RCA was purchased by GE in 1986 and no longer exists as a corporation. The RCA logos and the Nipper the dog trademark are owned by Talisman Brands which licenses them to different companies including Voxx International and Curtis International for several RCA branded products. Naxa Electronics licenses the Nipper image for Victor audio products. Sony Music Entertainment which has owned RCA Records since 2008, has a perpetual license to use the RCA and Nipper trademarks indefinitely.
The apple vs apple case was about the term “apple”, which is something that can be protected by trademark laws. AFAIK back in the day when Apple Music was a massive record company and Apple Computers were some nerds in a California basement, Apple Records agreed to let them use the name in the understanding that their businesses would never overlap. Many years later in the days of ipods and iTunes there businesses absolutely did overlap, hence the lawsuit.
