back to article Fujitsu: 'iPad? That's ours'

In addition to ignoring support for Adobe Flash, multitasking, and a few other niceties in its new iPad, Apple seems to have ignored one other important detail: it doesn't own the name "iPad." Fujitsu says it does. "It's our understanding that the name is ours," Fujitsu's PR director Masahiro Yamane told The New York Times on …

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  1. jake Silver badge

    ::giggle::

    The mind boggles ...

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    It will be settled...

    Just like the Iphone Apple/Cisco fight.

    Apple dives in it's bottomless coffers and Fujitsu will call it something else, or like the solution with Cisco, both will retain the use of the name.

    1. John 104

      Or

      Or better yet, Apple will recognize the complete cock up of a name that everyone makes fun of and change it to iSlate or something slightly less laughable while going down as the "good guy" who got beat in court.

  3. PlutoPorkPie
    Big Brother

    plenty of other tablets

    I noticed a couple of other tablets came out this week from a much smaller manufacturer, with better specs than big A's sanitary pad. The DigitalRise S1 and the X9, running windows 7. I'm waiting for an unboxing video myself... before parting with cash though.

    1. James Butler
      Thumb Up

      Yowsa

      The X9 features "10.2-inch multitouch display, an Atom N270 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, built-in 3G, GPS and WiFi, and Windows 7"

      I'm just saying. Even at $780 per unit, it's a better deal.

      1. Giles Jones Gold badge

        It's a PC

        It's a PC, it's not a device in-between a smartphone and a computer, it is a computer in tablet form.

        Complex, slow to start up and a UI designed for a mouse and keyboard.

        I've seen a Windows tablet PC at a customer's site, he was trying to take notes with it, but had to restart it. Hardly convenient when everyone is waiting to begin the meeting.

  4. Chronos
    Boffin

    Crucial issue:

    Is PoS equipment the same sector as consumer electronics? IIRC, for a Trademark to be violated, the use has to cause confusion. As much as I am loathe to stick up for Apple, this time I would suggest that they're not the same markets.

    As usual, the only people who will get rich from this are the land sharks.

    1. nsld

      @chronos

      The iPad could theoretically run POS SaaS so its arguable that its in the same sector.

      Its a classic case of Apple knowing but not caring about an issue.

      1. Chronos
        Thumb Up

        @nsld

        Of course, the damned thing has a browser. I didn't think of that. Good comment.

    2. Adam 10
      Coat

      PoS equipment.

      So, Apple's iPad is definitely in the PoS category...

      By the way, is there a handy abbreviation for "point of sale"?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Up

        You sir

        owe me a new key board!

        Mac Powerbook Pro. 3.1. You might need to add the screen as well....

  5. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

    Not just the name..

    .. also the device. I just read some article in a newspaper that there have been a few iPad-alike devices already on sale in Asia - for years. Of course, they don't have the "blessing of God(tm)" and will probably look less fancy, but the iPad is to me not as revolutionary as the iPhone.

    That's not to say I can't see a use for it (reference document storage, or even presentation device), but it's not a game changer like the iPhone was.

  6. BristolBachelor Gold badge
    Stop

    iApple iOwn iAll iWords iStarting i

    Perhaps Apple should give up trying to own all the words that begin with i, or making up new ones by adding an i on the front. (WTF does the i stand for anyway?)

    Apple's marketting department need to do some work and actually think of some new product names, rather than just stick to the one they came up with eons ago...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: iApple

      Well, Apple started this "i" craze (iMac, iBook, iPod,etc) then a load of less imaginative marketing people at other companies started trying to associate themselves with Apple's success by using the same naming approach.

      Agreed that Apple shouldn't own all words starting with "i", but I do have sympathy for them (and easyJet as another example) in this sort of position.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Yes, but what about the ~REALLY IMPORTANT!! ~ question(s)

    Like does the Fujitsu IPad run Adobe's Acrobat (*.pdf) Files, and or Flash (You Porn) Videos??

    Naggga yeah I'm sure there enough Paris Vids on those 'Sites'

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    found the bras

    Can't find the canadian coconut grove bras? I searched..it wasn't easy, but I found: http://www.aboutus.org/CoconutGroveIntimates.com which seems to host the site (or did before it was abandoned), but they do have an image of one of the websites pages and you can see some bras in the image. In case even aboutus.org stops showing the image, perhaps http://imagebin.ca/view/AgMsQQ.html will preserve a bit longer.

  9. Warren G
    Jobs Horns

    I prefer the Fujitsu...

    It's got a keypad too

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So how many copyright/patent/trademark infringements now?

    First there was the iPod - total ripoff of Creative Labs MP3 player and in fact Apple have to pay Creative a royalty for every single iPod ever manufactured. Not sold, manufactured. Its somewhere around $10USD for each iPod if memory serves.

    Then there's the iPhone - litigation ongoing with Nokia which Apple will lose badly.

    IPad - not their trademark. Also as there's little difference between that and the IPhone regarding the Nokia patents then expect that to be included in the legal case very soon.

    Seems to me that all Apple are good at is ripping off other companies patents/trademarks and sticking them in a pretty white shell. Even the OS kernel is a rip of other people's work.

    1. DJV Silver badge
      Happy

      @John Naismith

      "First there was the iPod"

      Actually, no.

      First was the name "Apple" - do you remember that a certain 1960's beat combo used the same name for their record label?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Umm, no.

      "First there was the iPod - total ripoff of Creative Labs MP3 player "

      Nope. Creative weren't the first neither. I had an Archos 5Gb player when the Creative jukebox first came out.

    3. Giles Jones Gold badge

      OSX

      I think you'll find that OSX is based upon the NeXT OS and technologies.

      The Mach kernel was developed by two main developers, one now works at Microsoft, the other Avie Tevanian worked at NeXT and was at Apple until March 2006!!!!!!

      Ripped off the kernel from somewhere? give me a break.

  11. thondwe

    live in iPad

    Also a flat - http://www.yournewhome.co.uk/Barratt-iPad-homes_2

  12. Michael Baines

    <Sighs>

    "we believe that any such effort would be a bust"?

    Take him out and shoot him.

  13. Grave

    i

    "i" stands for "idiot"

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And "iPAD" is taken in New Zealand, too

    "The iPAD™ is a true kitset [dwelling] designed to covers a range of options; it could be a one bedroom holiday home, secondary dwelling, granny flat, office, studio or resort unit to name but a few. ..."

    Looks like it's actually a registered trademark, too

    See http://www.ipad.net.nz/

  15. Torben Mogensen

    Trademark search?

    It is a wonder that Apple didn't make a trademark search before choosing the name. Or maybe they did and decided that the publicity gained from a trademark battle would be more free advertisement? They certainly got a lot of that in the last few days.

    In any case, Apple could just use "iBook". They already own the trademark for that, and it would be a logical name for a device that can function as an e-book reader. That would also save them all the jokes about shoulder pads, trouser pads and so on.

  16. DrXym

    Apple will be Apple

    Since when has a trademark mattered to them except when someone else is infringing on one of theirs? Let's not forget that even the name Apple has gotten them in a lot of legal hotwater with Apple Records (The Beatles label) especially after they started their foray into online music downloads.

  17. Frank Sattler
    Jobs Horns

    How about...

    ...Stevie boy takes his own advice (that he gave to an iPhone app developer not too long ago):

    "Change your products' name. Not that big of a deal."

    That is all.

  18. Stuart Castle Silver badge

    Surprised no one else has spotted this..

    "Like the Apple iPad, the Fujitsu iPad (PDF) - which has been around since 2002 - is a mobile device with a touchscreen display. Fujisu's model, however, is part of that company's point-of-sale retail offerings."

    They are also the POS handheld devices that are used by Apple at their Regent Street store..

  19. Bilgepipe
    FAIL

    They don't

    Fujitsu don't own the trademark, they let it lapse and are in the process of trying to renew it. If it was so important to them they should have kept it.

  20. Richard IV
    Troll

    Not news

    It would be news if Apple actually owned a trademark prior to announcement...

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Too Many

    Trademark disputes are just a way of lawyers making money. Even if you've registered a trade mark that means nothing in law if somebody used it before you. So the arguments rumble on and on and the lawyers fees stack up.

    Think about all those unforceable enforcement notices BMW sent out regarding the name MINI.

  22. Seanmon
    Jobs Horns

    Oops..

    ...iBolloxedItUp

    1. donpetroleum

      Oops

      iD'oh

      1. Graham Marsden
        Coat

        How about...

        ... iDon'tgiveacrap?

  23. fifi
    Grenade

    Windoze POS?

    They look suspiciously like the handheld POS that the Apple retail stores use.

    1. nullomodo
      Linux

      Those are..

      The handheld pos that the stores use - I was holding one just the other day!

  24. Pie Eater

    Not liked by dictators....

    Hitler doesn't like the iPad:

    http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/01/28/adobe_disses_ipad/

  25. Martin Milan
    Joke

    bras?

    So if you want to look a proper tit, get an iPad then?

  26. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    How dull

    Yawn yawn; its a computer - it doesnt matter what you call it because its still a pile of shit that will break - computers, how fuckin dull

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    iWonder if iPad

    will have a keyboard setup like...

    http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/home/

  28. Lewis Mettler 1
    Go

    Apple and Microsoft both

    I guess Apple and Microsoft just figure that they have more lawyers than anyone else so trademarks are simply something they can buy from other companies. And I suppose that is true.

    Microsoft paid Lindows about $30 million in order to get Lindows to change the name of their product. But, Microsoft brought the law suit. Rare it is when the company that brings the law suit pays the defendant $30 large in order to let them drop it.

    Of course the so called windows trademark was on the verge of being disquailified. And Microsoft lawyers knew that.

    So if you want to raise $30 million or so, fire up a version of Linux and call it Windows. It worked once. And it will work again and again. Vista was little more than an attempt to avoid sticking with the fake windows trademark. And MS blew that using a horrible product. Just think of the damage that could have been down if they called it Windows 6.

    The best trademarks are those words coined to be unique. Unless you really want to pay someone else a pile of money to get theirs. But, in the case of windows, that still does not work. I would love to see SUSE Windows or Ubuntu Windows. Microsoft would just have to pay millions to make it go away. And it is not even a valid trademark.

  29. chris 130
    Coat

    iPad bra? - call up the Fraud Squad

    There's something very wrong with the concept of an interactive padded bra;

    ie: the prduct (the rack) is being advertised as something it is not.

    Is not a breach of the Trade Descriptions Act?

    or just sheer bloody-minded fraud?

    Either way, its just not cricket.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    What does the i stand for?

    It stands for the self, the ego.

    EgoPad, EgoPhone, EgoMac etc.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @What does the i stand for?

      It is a portrait of Steve in profile.

  31. Big-nosed Pengie

    Simple

    iPud.

    Catchy AND descriptive.

  32. Mr Templedene

    Maybe they

    Could call it a newton?

    (someone had to say it)

  33. What can possibly go wrong

    The AED IPAD...

    "Biphasic defibirllation design..."

    Would you buy emergency lifesaving equipment from a company that can't be bothered to spell defibrillation correctly?

    And would you trust them that it had a "Saef and relaible design...", and have any confidence that when the terrible moment came it would fire up and save the day?

  34. NG
    Thumb Up

    They use these in, errrr, the Apple Store...

    Yup - the fujitsu iPad was the mobile PoS device being used last time i went to the Apple Store!

  35. Boatus
    Pirate

    In apple stores...

    Doesn't Apple use the Fujitsu iPad in it's own stores? I am pretty certain I've seen then floating around the stores to take payment (in the UK at least). You would have thought they would have realis... oh no wait, silly me. It's Apple!

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    We own everything (TM)....

    Apple needs to follow Mcdonald's lead, trademark the prefix.

    Evidently Mc[word of choice here] is the exclusive property of those under the greasy wing of the Golden Arches.

    Bet Steve wishes he'd thought of that.....

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