Apple is threatening to sue a South African reseller of its products for using the Apple name on its Web sites and in its domain names.
The Notebook Company is an Apple reseller and the owner of several Web sites, including ipad.co.za, ipad2.co.za, AppleLaptop.co.za and MacLaptop.co.za, to name a few.
According to a letter sent by Apple's local attorneys, Adams & Adams, the company requests the domain names mentioned in the letter, as well as other domain names that it might not be aware of, are transferred to Apple.
The letter states that a reseller agreement was entered into between Apple and The Notebook Connection (presumably the same entity as The Notebook Company), granting the local company limited use of the Apple trademarks for the promotion and sale of authorised products. "These guidelines expressly state that the reseller may not use an identical or virtually identical Apple trademark as a second level domain name. Accordingly, you are in breach of the reseller agreement and our client is entitled to terminate the agreement."
The letter goes on to say that Apple wishes to resolve the matter amicably in order to avoid lengthy and costly legal proceedings.
Chris Riley, MD of The Notebook Company, says the firm was told to remove the Apple logo from its Web sites a year ago, and duly adhered to this demand, replacing it with the word "Apple".
Responding to Apple's latest demand, Riley says the company uses the AppleLaptop.co.za domain for commercial gain and will ask Apple if it is acceptable that the domain be re-marketed under Apple.Laptop.co.za and Laptop.co.za/Apple. "We also use MacLaptop.co.za for commercial gain and, again, we will also be asking Apple if it is acceptable to them that we re-market MacLaptop.co.za under Mac.Laptop.co.za and Laptop.co.za/Mac."
With regards to the different iPad.co.za sites, Riley says these have been created as blogs for iPad users and provide updates of the latest news in relation to iPads. "I understand that the iPad name is a trademark, which I have no rights over. But a site like www.iPad.co.za also lends value to Apple itself, and to the iPad community. We even offer free yourname@iPad.co.za e-mail addresses from it," he says. "Most clients get confused with all the different models of iPads and in the blogs it gets explained quite well. This is an open, public blog."
Riley notes he feels targeted as there are a number of Web sites using the words Apple, Mac and iPad. "What is also amazing to me is that I am being taken on for the iPad usage and using trademarks in domain registrations, but iPadPorn.com has been happily humping along for quite some time, even though Apple has voiced publicly that it is very much against porn on their products. Is this actually Apple Inc applying this pressure on The Notebook Company? Or is it really Core SA, the official local distributor for Apple Inc?"
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