Connecting People: Nokia Is Flattered, Doesn’t Sue

In Apple’s video for the iPhone 4, Scott Forstall said the new iPhone is all about connecting people. Too bad “connecting people” is a long time Nokia slogan (for more than a decade actually) and we all spotted the reference there in the video.

It’s a good slogan, but we all wondered whether Nokia could sue Apple for trademark infringement. A Finnish website said so, too.

With a post on the official blog Nokia Conversation, the company writes:

“Actually we’re pretty flattered Scott chose to say “connecting people” in his bit of the video. Especially as Macstories seemed to think it makes a pretty good headline too.

It’s rewarding to see that after nearly two decades, our mantra of “connecting people” still resonates so strongly. And of course, now we’ll be watching to ensure that our protected trademarks are not used in an inappropriate way in future!”

Yes, we think it’s a pretty good headline and perfectly sums up the essence of the new iPhone. What we can understand from this post though, is that Nokia doesn’t seem to be suing Apple. They’re flattered, they’ll make sure to protect their trademarks in the future, but it seems like they can’t do anything about someone who says something is about connecting people.

And it’s not like Apple is planning to make “connecting people” their slogan, just like “I was blown out” will never be .

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