IP Guidelines & Fruit

March 5, 2010

So there is this fruit company. It is one of the biggest fruit company’s out there. It makes high margin, high concept, very expensive fruit. They used to be mocked because they made incompatible fruit that was all about looks. Now they are lauded for exactly the same reasons. This fruit company cares a lot about its Intellectual Property. They would like to protect the magic that lets them sell more than 60,000,000 identical things each year while retaining a feel of exclusivity. They like to send people letters. And one look above into the adoring but somewhat disdainful eyes of James Potter tells you that these letters will not be ignored. The image below of the waving alien is an example, used here for educational purposes only, of an inappropriate use of the Apple logo. This is an example of something we would not like to see on Shapeways.

Since several people are making items that are MP3 player accessories we thought it prudent to point you to some trademark guidelines. You can find Apple’s trademark guidelines for 3rd parties here. And from them one gets the impression that the 1st and 2nd parties, is where it’s at. The trademark guidelines are written by lawyers and lawyers are expensive. In order to justify this expense they tend to be baffling. You would be good at being baffling also if you were being paid $500 an hour to tell people stuff they already know in such a way as to make them doubt that they know it. But, if you are a designer and want people to respect your IP, then setting a good example can not hurt.

Apple states that you are only allowed to use their logo if you are an authorized reseller. For educational use, you can have a look at the above logo. The above image is an educational illustration of an inappropriate use of the Apple logo. You could not use such a logo on your products. You are also not allowed to imply that Apple endorses you. So “Apple loves Joris”, or “Iphones love to be cuddled by my Iphone case” would not be OK. When making an Apple accessory, it is OK to say, “Compatible with Apple Ipod.” “For use with Apple TV” or “Compatible with Iphone” is OK. But, Apple gets nervous when you call your product 3DprintedIpodcase or “Apple wants you to buy my 3D print” or “Authorized Apple 3D print.”

Apple also prohibits people from making any kind of merchandise with its logo on it. You are also not allowed to say anything mean to or about Apple. As such, I would like to apologize to Apple on behalf of the entire world for what we said about the Ipad.

For a completely mysterious reason you are also not allowed to mention things such as: Appletree, Apple Cart, Jackintosh or PodMart. The last one is a shame really because I could see PodMart become a totally huge retailer of stasis pods. And Jackintosh should be a great descriptor for the nonsense Apple fanboys sprout. Also, Appletree is not incorrect English but copyright infringement. “Think Different” is both. Throw Leopard or Snow Leopard Rug, are not mentioned nor are MacPoorBro or Uwork. Lets say you wanted to make an Apprika for example.

For educational use, only the image below illustrates that such a use of the Apple logo would be inappropriate.

Please also pay attention to some of Apple’s lesser-known wordmarks such as Shake and Safari, the latter especially if you are Kenyan. Aperture might not sound relevant now but come the apocalypse I’d like to see who can beat Jobs with regards to that trademark.

On the upside you can however get a lovely Powered by Darwin web button. This is completely free and a lovely accessory for people who like evolution.

On a completely unrelated note: the top image is the property of Apple, the second, third and fourth images are used under a Creative Commons Attribution License and remixed by people who will remain nameless.