Apple Threatens Bistro Over "AppleADay" Name

itwbennett writes "In today's edition of David v. Goliath, Apple lawyers have sent cease and desist letters to a tiny health food restaurant in Luxembourg named AppleADay. For their part, the owners of AppleADay, with help from a lawerly friend, have promised that they would continue to sell only food, not computers. Of course, Apple knows as well as anyone that promises are made to be broken, having famously promised Apple Corps, the Beatles' production company, they would never get into the music business."

Why are they such assholes?

[AngryDeuce]

I mean, NOBODY is going to confuse them for the Apple Store. This is just petty.

Re:Why are they such assholes?

[haruchai]

Just because Steve Jobs is dead doesn't mean Apple is all out of assholes.

Re:They have to

[Zancarius]

To my untrained eye, I have a hard time seeing how they could sue over the logo. It looks nothing like the Apple Computer, Inc. logo! I realize your intentions were to attempt to absolve Apple of wrongdoing, but I think that link has succeeded in helping me decide that this suit is/was even more petty than I gleaned from TFA.

Yes, there's the issue of trademark dilution, but I think this is far beyond ridiculous.

Re:Why are they such assholes?

[bonch]

This is a trademark issue, not a patent issue. Trademark owners have to defend it or risk losing it.

That, of course, won't stop the Slashdotters from freaking out over nothing. Notice the article was submitted by the ITWorld author who wrote it. He knew exactly what he was doing and how this readership would react. It's all about page views. This story isn't even new; it dates back to late August.

Slow newsday ?

[CharlyFoxtrot]

Orignal story dates from the 5th of may [lesoir.be] (6 month old stories now Slashdot, really ?) There was a flurry of news reporting and no updates since then, not even on their Facebook page [facebook.com] where the restaurant gleefully displayed its new found notoriety. So I'm guessing it turned out to be very much a non-story played up for advertising value.

Re:They have to

[YrWrstNtmr]

Second, contrary to the headline, they're not threatening over the "AppleADay" name but the logo

It looks like...a drawing of an apple. Hard to depict an apple without it looking like an apple.
But there are significant differences. Hollow, 2 leaves on top, no bite out of the right side, different color.

Re:Why are they such assholes?

[king neckbeard]

Yes, trademarks must be defended, but this is not an instance of that because Apple's trademark doesn't cover bistros.

I understand!

[openfrog]

Seeing the supposedly infringing logo, I understand:

It looks nothing like the Apple Computer logo, but IT LOOKS BETTER!

Apple wants it.

Re:Why are they such assholes?

[PopeRatzo]

Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."

That old saw doesn't get any smarter with age.

Personally, I got a lot more radical and left-leaning after I retired in 2007, because with the pressure to have to go out and earn a living every day lifted from me at age 50, I could really view the system more objectively. I wasn't afraid any more the way working people in America are required to be afraid. I realized just how much most people who work for a living and yet call themselves "conservatives" are suffering from the same disorder that keeps a battered woman married to, and even sticking up for, her abuser.

I hope you live long enough and gain enough perspective to see it the way I've seen it.

Re:Why are they such assholes?

[Penguinisto]

Personally, I got a lot more radical and left-leaning after I retired in 2007, because with the pressure to have to go out and earn a living every day lifted from me at age 50, I could really view the system more objectively..

Don't know how to say it without sounding trollish, but honestly, I daresay that you've only swapped your old fears for new ones, and the new ones happen to be left-leaning.

Now, instead of worrying about a job, you have to worry about healthcare (as older folks tend to be far more frequent consumers of it). It also comes up that any means to avoid having to pay outrageous amounts to get that healthcare (even if the government pays it on your behalf) is probably going to sound a lot more appealing to you now that, if you're looking down the barrel of geriatric and long-term care, you likely will be in a decade or two, and you most likely know it. Other considerations, such as Social Security and most other AARP talking points, are going to be ones that you can now sympathize with... and most of them tend to lean leftward in their stances.

Besides, you also made the mistake of generalizing those who work. Some among us are entrepreneurs and/or otherwise own our own businesses. Where is the fear and abuse that they see? Their only real fears involve exactly two: lack of sales and excess of governmental intrusion (taxes, regulation, laws, etc). Are you saying that these folks also "required to be afraid" of the same things that most other conservatives fear?

I can also make one more argument: Those who are younger and working are more confident in their ability to be independent. OTOH, folks who are older and retired are less confident, to the point of knowing that someday, dependency on others for their care will be something that they have to deal with, and not everyone has kids who will happily take them in once they reach the point of non-independence. This tends to introduce yet another fear, and one far more visceral and personal than merely being over-taxed or over-regulated. That fear usually tends to want someone, anyone, and everyone to jump in and care for you as you age.

Not saying it's perfectly your case or anything, but I am saying that retirement doesn;t necessarily mean that you've suddenly become an objective judge of the world. It only trades old fears for new ones.

Re:Why are they such assholes?

[PopeRatzo]

Now, instead of worrying about a job, you have to worry about healthcare

No, I can afford healthcare. My worry is about health not health care.

Other considerations, such as Social Security and most other AARP talking points, are going to be ones that you can now sympathize with

Not yet. I'm still more than a decade away from those things. I won't need Social Security to live unless there is a catastrophe of such magnitude that Social Security wouldn't matter anyway.

OTOH, folks who are older and retired are less confident, to the point of knowing that someday, dependency on others for their care will be something that they have to deal with

You think you won't get old and infirm? I study and teach Chinese martial arts. My teacher is 87 and has such an optimistic view of his own life that he just planted plum trees in his yard, despite the fact that they won't bear fruit for 10-15 years. Now that's a worldview I emulate.

I am saying that retirement doesn;t necessarily mean that you've suddenly become an objective judge of the world. It only trades old fears for new ones.

My only fear is for my daughter's future, and that, friend, is something that focuses one's attention on current affairs like nothing else. I never worried much about politics or economics while I was working. I was too busy making a living. There is a reason why in most cultures, older people are respected and their opinions are sought. Now in my mid-50s, I'm sort of too old to be young and too young to be old. But I've got energy, literacy, and the time to pay attention.

Now, having said all that, there's no fool like an old fool, so I try to remember that I'm usually full of shit.

Re:Why are they such assholes?

[Suhas]

Any poster, who posts tired old cliches and witty untruths to try and support a falsehood is an asshat and an idiot.
FTFY