Fujitsu claims iPad name to be its property

3rd February, 2010 by Adina
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Masahiro Yamane, PR head at Fujitsu, made an astonishing assertion by saying he did not believe the rights to the iPad trademark would belong to Apple. He outlined that Fujitsu had applied for an iPad trademark as early as in 2003 and also that its current business PDA matches perfectly the mobile communicator description used by Apple. Although Fujitsu has lost its trademark since spring this year, the company did not loose hope to use the name.

Yamane told the New York Times that the name iPad belongs to Fujitsu. The company is consulting its lawyers to see what could be done, although it seems that without the trademark there is not much legal basis to get satisfaction. In June, Fujitsu re-applied for the trademark but has been immediately contested by Apple at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Fujitsu neither can claim prior use of the trademark as another company, named Mag-Tech, had already applied for it. Apple has time until the end of this month to file eventual formal objection to Fujitsu’s trademark.

The Fujitsu iPad was launched in 2002 as a Windows CE-based handheld and was designed for warehouse workers. It has a 3.5-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The device belonging to Apple has similar features at first sight, but it has much larger size and lacks a number pad. It also lacks entertainment focus and has a significantly lower price at $499, compared to the @2,000 of Fujitsu’s device, and also addresses a different audience.


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