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Apple Challenges "MyPodder" Name with C&D [Updated]

Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 at 2:35 PM - by

Apple Computer has issued a cease-and-desist notice to Podcast Ready, a company that makes podcast management software called MyPodder, demanding that it cease use of the MyPodder name. The product currently works with Windows Media Player-compatible portable devices but is set to debut for the iPod on Thursday. Devices that ship with the application preloaded on them have a "Podcast Ready" notice on their packaging.

Podcast Ready CEO and founder Russell Holliman told InformationWeek: "They don't object to Podcast Ready, only to its use in the context of a portable device. But that's kind of what podcasts are all about."

In reality, however, Apple's C&D made no objection to the company's use of "Podcast Ready," asking simply that use of the term be limited to those things relating to podcasts. What Apple is demanding, however, is that Podcast Ready, Inc. abandon its trademark application for MyPodder.

Wired has posted a scan of the letter Apple sent to Podcast Ready, noting that it said: "Moreover, the term POD has been adopted and used extensively in the marketplace by consumers as an abbreviation to refer to Apple's player." Apple also claimed that while it "has no general objection to proper use of the descriptive term 'podcast' as part of a trademark for goods and services offered in the podcasting field, it cannot allow marks that go beyond this legitimate use and infringe on Apple's rights in POD and IPOD."

The C&D also said, "Further, we ask that Infostructure Solutions abandon its application for MYPODDER, and that both companies abandon all use, and plans to use, the MYPODDER mark, including any use of the mypodder domains and myPodder, Inc. trade name."

Mr. Holliman said that his company still plans to release the iPod version of MyPodder as scheduled and will "take every bit of time that we have to think about this." Podcast Ready has until Oct. 5 to respond to Apple, which had no official comment.

[Update: The article has been updated to clarify the story and the nature of Apple's C&D. - Editor]

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Mikuro said:

member since 15 Jun 2002 with 457 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:58 pm

Apple didn't even create that phrase. I hope someone countersues. If they didn't want the term 'pod' to be made generic, they shouldn't have adopted the word "podcast" to begin with.

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Edison Carter said:

member since 10 Aug 2006 with 228 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:07 pm

	Mikuro wrote:
	Apple didn't even create that phrase. I hope someone countersues. If they didn't want the term 'pod' to be made generic, they shouldn't have adopted the word "podcast" to begin with.

Who coined the term?

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Dreadnought said:

member since 01 Jan 2005 with 162 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:09 pm

Yet another report misinterpreting the facts.

The C&D letter explicitly stated that Apple was not requesting Podcast Ready to change their company name. All they wanted was Podcast Ready to not use the name "MyPodder" for their new product. See the next to last paragraph of the C&D Letter(which is currently being slashdotted), which states:

	Quote:
	While Apple, of course, has no general objection to proper use of the descriptive term "podcast" as part of a trademark for goods and services offered in the podcasting field, it cannot allow marks that go beyond this legitimate use and infringe on Apple's rights in POD and IPOD.

Apparently, the person who wrote the Wired article hadn't bothered to read the actual letter, since he wrote:

	Quote:
	Now, Apple is going after the term 'podcasting'.

So, it seems that Apple is the victim of bad reporting and the whole podcast/netcast thing is a non-existent problem.

However, while trying to locate the actual C&D letter, I came across some interesting information. John Watson, in his Blog, Biz Podcasting, believes that the C&D letters sent to people (and companies) incorporting "podcast" or "pod" into their business name stem from problems Apple is having with obtaining a trademark for the term "iPodcast" and iPod" itself. The blog entry quotes extensively from the USPTO rulings but gives no clue as to the issue behind why there are problems with the iPod trademard

This all gets very strange - how could Apple not own the registered trademark for its own product? In fact, on Apple's own site, iPod is appended with a (R) mark, as opposed to a superscript TM. (The difference between the two marks is that an (R) mark indicates that the trademark is registered with the USPTO, whereas a superscript TM (or SM) is simply an assertion of rights on a word or phrase and carries no legal weight). A little digging at the USPTO site seemed in order.

What I found was rather interesting - it seems that a company in NY, called "POD TRADEMARKS PARTNERSHIP" and another company, Par Ace LLC, are objecting to the trademark granted to Apple for the word "iPod". Par Ace LLC invented a product called a TeePod for helping improve one's golf game - hard to imagine that anyone would confuse a mobile digital device (the Apple generic term for iPod) with a souped up golf tee. But, if they've got the cash to burn, and want to pay lawyers, have at it. The other company, Pod Trademarks Partnership, seems to be a completely different story. The only info I could glean from the 'net was from the USPTO filings - that it's three Brits who seem to exist to file infringement claims against anyone using the word "Pod" in their products. This "partnership" has seven active cases in the USPTO, trying to overturn trademark registrations.

Shades of SCO!

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Edison Carter said:

member since 10 Aug 2006 with 228 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:17 pm

Thanks for that post Dreadnought

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Dreadnought said:

member since 01 Jan 2005 with 162 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:24 pm

Edison Carter wrote:

	Mikuro wrote:
	Apple didn't even create that phrase. I hope someone countersues. If they didn't want the term 'pod' to be made generic, they shouldn't have adopted the word &quot;podcast&quot; to begin with.

Who coined the term?

Supposedly, Adam Curry did, while carrying a white mobile digital device with a large button in the center that displays contents in a hierarchical menu format.

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Dreadnought said:

member since 01 Jan 2005 with 162 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:26 pm

Whoops! Double posted

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burrito said:

member since 07 Aug 2005 with 177 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:51 pm

dreadnought is king \^/.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:46 pm

Apple owns the trademark iPod, not the common word pod. You don't get to claim a trademark after someone else is already using the word, especially when it's a generic term anyway.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:58 pm

	Guest wrote:
	Apple owns the trademark iPod, not the common word pod. You don't get to claim a trademark after someone else is already using the word, especially when it's a generic term anyway.

It would appear someone at Apple would respectfully request the courts to disagree.