Apple Over the Top? Does this Infringe on the iPod?

Look at that picture. The darn thing is rectangular, has a screen … how dare they use the letters “POD” in the name? It’s obviously going to be confused with the iPod! I think Apple oughta tell these guys to cease-and-desist! And in fact, Apple has.

Yep, Dave and Carolee Ellison, owners of Mach 5 Products, have developed a product that makes it easier for arcades to figure out how many of those tickets that you trade in for those “valuable” prizes have been spit out by a game. Sounds like a real time-saver, but when Mach 5 applied for a trademark, Apple got wind of it.

Part of their letter to the Ellisons:

PROFIT POD is a POD-formative mark and incorporates a substantial portion of Apple’s IPOD mark. The products are likewise related. Both devices receive and transmit data and are used with computers, both are used in connection with video games, and both have other similar components. Moreover, it has not gone unnoticed that, like Apple’s IPOD device, the PROFIT POD product is a small, flat, round corned (sic) rectangular device with a display screen. Source: Between the Lines Blog (ZDNet)

Apple noticed all these similarities but missed the fact that the Profit Pod doesn’t have a battery pack or play music. Or have a headphone jack. It’s also not too portable (see the wires attached to it?). Obviously this very small business is no threat to Apple, and most likely the only people who would hear about this device are arcade owners at trade shows. For a company that purports to be “better than Microsoft”, this is ridiculous. I think PeaPod better start worrying (its stores are rectangular and it has displays on its cash registers).

The main reason for this post is to get some dissenting letters / email sent to Apple. For PR reasons I would think they would probably rescind this decision ... if they get enough negative press, that is.

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