Italian company allowed to use the name of Apple co-founder
Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato applied for the “Steve Jobs” trademark back in 2012 after discovering that Apple itself hasn’t taken the necessary steps to protect the name of its co-founder. The trademark was registered globally, and the two brothers used it for their own clothing brand, along with a logo that clearly resembles the one of Apple.
The court, however, ruled that the logo of the company doesn’t violate Apple’s own brand and allowed the two Italians to continue using the trademark for their clothing, including T-shirts and jeans that are sold under the Steve Jobs brand.
The more surprising thing is that the two brothers don’t want to stop here and plan to expand the Steve Jobs brand to more products, including electronics. While they haven’t said it specifically, it’s believed they might be even looking into phones, which means that at some point the Steve Jobs phone could compete against the iPhone, which was Steve Jobs’ phone per se.
In a statement, the Barbato brothers say they are willing to work together with other companies on expanding the Steve Jobs brand.
“We did not call ourselves cunning in the negative sense of the term. We want to share this brand, we do not want to keep it just for us. It means that if there are companies or individuals with whom it is possible to carry out important projects we will support them with all the pleasure, to put our brand next to their project. We will give space to many minds throughout Italy, especially Naples, to give the possibility to realize a dream, because Steve Jobs has really left a mark in the universe,” a translated statement reads.
Apple hasn’t issued a comment on this court ruling, but it goes without saying the firm isn’t happy with it, and it’s probably considering its legal options right now.
