05-26-2008, 02:20 PM

I don't see the point of this law suit... at all!

Apple Inc. picked up a new lawsuit this week, as Man & Machine, a computer peripheral company, sued Apple and CBS over Apple's use of the name "Mighty Mouse" for its Macintosh mouse. Man & Machine have been manufacturing and marketing a water and chemical resistant mouse under the same name since 2004, approximately one year before Apple introduced its own Mighty Mouse.

The lawsuit largely accuses Apple of being a bully company intent on confusing the marketplace with its use of Mighty Mouse. "Because of its size, fame, and advertising budget" M&M wrote in its complaint, "Apple's use of the Mighty Mouse trademark has and will continue to overwhelm M&M's use" of the trademark.

"Apple's use of the trademark Mighty Mouse for its computer mouse is likely to give consumers the misimpression that the larger, predatory junior user (Apple) is the source of the smaller senior user's (M&M's) goods," the company added.

If you're wondering where CBS comes in, the media company and television network licensed the name to Apple prior to the release of Apple's Mighty Mouse. The lawsuit alleges that CBS had no right to do so, despite owning the trademarks associated with the original Mighty Mouse cartoon, and that's because CBS's trademark doesn't cover computer peripherals.

M&M, however, claims to own a trademark for the Mighty Mouse name that very specifically covers, "Computer cursor control devices, namely, computer mice." The lawsuit adds that CBS filed for a trademark for Mighty Mouse that would cover computer mice, but did so "substantially" later than M&M had already done so.

The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages, and is trying to force Apple from using the name Mighty Mouse in its mouse line.

Source: The Mac Observer, http://www.macobserver.com/article/2008/05/21.3.shtml

The Original Mighty Mouse from M&M, which do you prefer?

05-26-2008, 02:41 PM

Anyone ever even heard of M&M's mouse? Sounds kind of pointless to me. I don't think they will be able to prove damages, as it seems like something specialized that someone who wanted that type of product wouldn't get confused with Apple's mouse...

05-26-2008, 02:58 PM

doesn't matter. that's what big companies have lawyers for, to research this stuff before they name it, or to buy out/crush smaller companies who rightly fight back.

this is not frivilous at all in my estimation.

05-26-2008, 06:12 PM

You know if it was not for lawyers, we wouldn't need lawyers.

And a quote from an anon. source....

Not all lawyers are rogues and scoundrels..some are crooks!

05-26-2008, 06:39 PM

Seems to me that it all boils down to CBS's patent on whether it applies to computer mice. If so, then M&M is pretty much SOL.

05-26-2008, 10:10 PM

Hmmm. Why didn't M&M do something about this 3 years ago? I think they waited too long to expect Apple to change names.

05-26-2008, 11:31 PM

That's a good point. Waiting three years might also negatively affect M&M's ability to win this case. Not defending a trademark can lead to one losing that trademark. Not sure how long you have to wait, but three years could very well do it.

05-27-2008, 04:42 AM

why get apple in trouble. That stupid M & M company just wanting money. The Apple mighty mouse looks a lot better than that UGLY thing. Apple got inspired by it I bet and made it a million times better. I never even heard of the other company before, so must be really small, wouldn't the mighty mouse trademark, belong to the maker of the cartoon, Mighty mouse

05-27-2008, 01:09 PM

@ Macintoshmad,

Yeah, they probably are wanting money, partly as they believe they have lost profit because there is a similarly named product out taking custom away from them and also why not go for it when Apple hold the money purse if they win.

The Apple Mighty Mouse is pretty good, no doubt, but I don't think it's fair to compare the M&M Mouse to the Apple one. Just because you never heard of a company before doesn't mean they aren't good. It just means you aren't in their demographic for selling their products.

The M&M Mighty mouse, to me, seems to fit the specific bill of being water and chemical resistant. That isn't a novelty feature added in to sell to the masses, it seems to be a feature very useful to anyone who uses liquids of any type and needs to use a computer.

I am an animator and often muck up my mouse when I'm animating sand or paint. I usually tie my mouse in a plastic bag to stop it getting damaged from the materials I am using, but, I now know about this resistant mouse, I am tempted to buy it.

My use for the mouse is light compared to people who might work hands on with chemicals and so forth and also use a computer at the same time.

I see it like this...

Imagine if Apple brought out a robust version of the Macbook aimed at people who put their laptops through a lot of rough and tumble and named it the 'ToughBook'. Then Panasonic comes along and goes 'Oi, that's our name for our product'. A lot of people don't know about the Panasonic ToughBook, and when they read about it, they usually mark it as rubbish and slow and pointless. It isn't pointless, it fits the purpose for what it was built perfectly.

What I am trying to say is that just because Apple have a product named the same as a product you never heard of doesn't mean it's rubbish.

Also, in the article it says that CBS, the company who own the rights to the Mighty Mouse TV show tried to have their trademark extended to cover computer mice, but they did it quite a while after M&M did.

So it seems M&M Copyrighted the name "Mighty Mouse" for computer mice, then CBS tried to adjust their copyright to cover computer mice as well, and then Apple popped in and used "Mighty Mouse" regardless of how the name was being used already.

Anyway.

If Apple were ordered to stop using the name Mighty Mouse for the Mighty Mouse, what could it be called?

Super Mouse?

05-27-2008, 01:25 PM

If M&M started marketing a computer called a "Macintosh", you would bet that Apple's lawyers would be all over them in about 3 microseconds. A trademark is a trademark is a trademark.

05-27-2008, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by melmation

[...brilliance...]

exactly. very well said.

05-27-2008, 01:57 PM

How about the Mighty Mac Mouse!

05-28-2008, 10:12 AM

I don't like either of them