Apple is very protective, some would say overly so, about anything it thinks infringes on its trademarks. For example, it filed opposition against a proposed New York City trademark for its GreeNYC program. The logo (left) contains an apple (nothing like the Cupertino firm's though). This time, in Australia, Apple lost.

In this case, Apple lost its battle to prevent the firm Wholesale Central from trademarking the brand DOPi (iPod spelled backwards). Apple claimed that DOPi would cause confusion to consumers, even those without dyslexia. DOPi is a brand of laptop bags and cases for Apple products.

While not a bruhaha strictly about the letter "i," IP Australia, the tribunal involved, made sure to mention that contentious letter. After all, Apple made it part of its complaint, saying, "Filing of the application should be seen for what it is – an attempt to piggy-back on the fame of the iPod trademark and the implicit use of the lower case ‘i’ in the industry where Apple is operating."

Meanwhile, the registrar for the tribunal, Michael Kirov assserted what is probably common sense:

[...] Apple overlooked the fact that there were already a large number of products that have the "i" prefix, for example iSkin and iSoft to name just two, all of which are operating in the same class of electronic goods as Apple.

The registrar overseeing the case Michael Kirov, who confessed to being a tech head and a fan of Apple's products, judged that Apple failed to demonstrate that a "person of ordinary intelligence and memory" would automatically assume that just because a product carries the letter "i" it is an Apple product.

Apple has also gone after those who have chosen to use the word "pod" in their products, even if there was absolutely no way the product involved could be confused.

Tags: Apple Product, Apple Products, Bruhaha, Common Sense, Confusion, Consumers, Cupertino, Dopi, Electronic Goods, Fame, Iskin, Isoft, Kirov, Laptop Bags, Lower Case, New York City, Opposition, Pod, Time In Australia, Tribunal