Steve Jobs: Apple owns "Pad" trademark

Actually I can understand Steve's point. While he's okay with app names making references to the product, he's not cool with the product name being part of the app name itself.

This is where I start to no longer like Apple. Sure they make good products but things like this is just nonsense.

Further evidence that Jobs is an unctuous dickhead.

When you develop for apple devices, they really squeeze your balls with authority. Really, they might as well just send an apple rep down to hover over you as you build the app and guide your every move so you don't run afoul of the many hundreds of unexpected, undocumented rules and expectations.

But as we keep being told, they're all about open standards and inspiring creativity.

Apple seems to have made a marked shift in policy regarding Steve answering emails from customers. It used to be a rare thing—now I hear about it almost every day.

Reminds me of the "Holy Grail" scene: "I'm being repressed!"

punkassjim is totally right, and some of these posts are cracking me up:

1. Nobody said Apple "owns" the term "Pad" - ROTFL - so ThinkPad, maxi-pad, Paddington mofo-ing Bear are all safe - relax.

2. Any dev trying to use the word "Pad" in his title is, even if the word fits the app, giving his product a slight name advantage in the _iPad_ app store.

3. If he does it, then a hundred thousand other devs do it, and the app store is even more flooded with confusing crap than it is now.

Pitchforks down, people, please leave the castle in an orderly fashion. God, I love being a Mac guy; you are all awesome.

Well I guess Steve is going to have to admit that he agrees with the Swiss. They won't let him trademark iPhone in Switzerland because they say it's too much like "phone". Now he's saying that anything with "pad" in it is too much like "iPad". You can't have it both ways buddy.

I don't have feelings one way or another with regard to the copyright. But developers really need to start using more than five brain cells to think of their apps' names. If you can't differentiate yourself from the competition and rise to the top without naming your app "something pad" etc., then you need to keep working on it.

The one that bothered me yesterday was Twittelator Pad for Twitter. So the app name starts with "twit," yet they still felt the need to advertise that it's intended for twitter? Also, from what I've seen in the developer docs, Apple explicitly states that "for iPad" is acceptable in your AppStore listing, but that modifications of the brand are not. RTFM.

The scope of a trademark covers more than the identical mark, it covers any mark that would create a likelihood of confusion. Also, it is up to the trademark owner to police their marks. Restricting the use of the term "pad" on the AppStore is a great way for Apple to police their marks and much better for everyone when compared to a string of lawsuits. Just sayin'

Remember back in the day when you weren't allowed to trademark common words in the English language? Anyone?