Apple objects to trademark registration application of a recipe app; Here’s why

Apple sought to have the trademark registration application of Prepear denied.

Apple’s notice of opposition: Tech giant and smartphone manufacturer Apple has filed a notice of opposition against Prepear, a meal prep company. The giant claims that Prepear’s cartoon pear logo is very similar to Apple’s trademarked logo. Apple, in its notice, stated that the registration of Prepear app’s pear logo would result in a dilution of Apple’s own logo’s distinctiveness, making it difficult for consumers to differentiate between Apple’s products and services and those by Prepear, violating the Lanham Act.

The fight started after Super Healthy Kids, the parent company of Prepear, filed an application to register the logo. The Prepear app aims to allow users to store and organise recipes as well as create custom meal plans. Their logo is a pear having a leaf on the upper right.

In its notice application, Apple stated that Prepear’s mark was a “minimalistic” fruit that has a right-angled leaf, “readily” recalling to mind the famous Apple logo and thus creating a similar impression in the minds of the consumers. It stated that the Apple’s logo is famous and instantly recognisable. Therefore, any differences between the logo of Prepear and Apple would be lost to the ordinary consumer, who would believe that Prepear is related to, endorsed by or affiliated with the tech giant.

The co-founder of Prepear, Russell Monson, has started a petition titled ‘Save the Pear from Apple!’, which has been signed over 14,000 times. He wrote that Prepear was a small business and it had only five employees. It was not capable of fighting a legal battle with a company as huge as Apple, he said, adding that the experience was “terrifying” for them.

Apple’s notice stated that it also offered identical or highly related products and services, and it had services related to computer software, and healthcare, general wellness, nutrition as well as social networking. Therefore, it stated, an app that provided meal planning services would come within the tech giant’s “natural zone of expansion”. Apple pointed out that it already provided several apps and services related to health and nutrition, and therefore, customers might look at Prepear and assume that the app was a product made by Apple.

Meanwhile, Natalie Monson, co-owner of Prepear, took to Instagram to say that she wasn’t trying to stop people from using Apple but she wanted to push back against the giant’s stance. She wrote that she felt like she had a moral obligation to stand against the aggressive legal action that Apple has taken against small businesses and fight for Prepear’s right to keep their logo. She added that her company was fighting against the giant not just to keep the logo, but also to send a message to big tech companies against “bullying” small businesses.

Apple has earlier also pursued legal action against a company for a logo that was similar to the giant’s own. In 2019, the giant had sent a objection letter to the Norway patent office, arguing that Fremskrittspartiet, a political party, had a logo of an apple and it resembled very closely to the giant’s.

Apple sought to have the trademark registration application of Prepear denied.