Law360 reports that a Virginia federal judge, Liam O’Grady has sided with Apple in a long-running trademark dispute over the name of the iPad, shutting down claims from a company that launched an “ipad.mobi” platform two years before the tablet debuted.
In. 2012, a company named RXD Media claimed prior use of the iPad name in its cloud storage solution. Here’s how the company describes the platform and its history:
“In 2007, the idea for ipad was born from a founder’s need for connecting and synchronizing individuals, and groups, within a vastly growing field of information. An accessible platform to bring ideas to life through organized communication was designed to foster engagement and cooperation toward outcomes not only within immediate circles but world community as well.
The mission of ipad is to be the world’s most efficient, user friendly cloud storage service to support the organization and growth for you, your family, your friends and your business.”
Here’s O’Grady’s ruling: “Even assuming the evidence of record regarding use of IPAD.mobi, iPad.mobi, or variations employing design elements, can be considered as demonstrating use of IPAD as a standalone mark by Opposer,” concluded Judge O’Grady, “we nonetheless find that the term IPAD is merely descriptive of Opposer’s services and that Opposer has failed to establish that such term had acquired distinctiveness… Because Opposer has not shown that it has a prior proprietary interest in the IPAD mark, Opposer’s claim of likelihood of confusion… fails.”
