Seven years in the making, Apple is giving up on pursuing the POD trademark. While this doesn’t have an effect on on Apple’s iPod brand, it does open up the opportunity for competitors to brand their products using the POD nomenclature. Patently Apple makes this point clear:
Any competitor who wishes to brand a device with the word “Pod” is able to do so without any legal ramifications from Apple. That should make copycats like Samsung, very happy indeed. Will someone try to introduce something like an “ePod” device in the future? – Yes, more than likely.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has published Apple’s abandonment, citing April 13th, 2011 as the day Apple dropped the trademark. Although Apple is no longer pursuing securing the Pod trademark, do they have anything to worry about? The iPod is a household name, and consumers are every skeptical of “copycat” products in the marketplace. You only need to look at iPad and MP3 competitors to see how well Apple dominates, and I doubt anyone else using the word “POD” is going to confuse Apple educated consumers.
[via Patently Apple]
