Everyone else is doing it
Being sued by Apple, that is. I was beginning to feel left out, but at last I've been targeted by Apple legal. Finally, I can post a rant on my blog, maybe start a petition, get linked on Slashdot, write a book about my experiences and start sell lots of T-shirts. Maybe I can make one of those little badges for other people to stick on their blogs in support of me, me, me.
I wish. A few weeks ago, I signed up to Google Adwords to advertise Shrook. I chose the snappy headline "RSS reader for Mac", and then I got bored filling out forms and forgot about it, so the ads never ran.
This week Google emailed to say my advert had been "suspended" at the request of Apple legal, for infringing on their "Mac" trademark. When I asked them what it was about exactly, they said:
Apple has asked Google to monitor the use of their trademark terms in Google AdWords ad targeting Europe. We monitor trademarks depending on users' location. Currently Apple's trademarks are not appearing in Europe.You'll notice that Apple only asked Google to "monitor" their trademarks, and Google responded by banning them outright. In other words, Apple are too lazy to look for infringement themselves and Google are too lazy to check for infringement on a case-by-case basis, and alas neither is being especially evil.So that's my first Apple legal threat. A bit lame and not even directed at me personally. Can someone please leak me some secret Apple product info so I can get sued properly?
-- Graham, September 22nd, 2005 10:21 AM.