Following an “infringement of trademark” claim raised by a local manufacturer, Delhi High Court has ordered Apple to stop using the term “Split View” in any of its products in India.
The company that’s making the claim is a local software firm called Vyooh that owns a patent for a split screen function known as “SplitView”.
Apple has obviously challenged the court order since it uses “Split View” (with a space) whereas Vyooh uses “SplitView” (spelt without a space). This means the petition filed by Vyooh doesn’t hold much water since patent laws are very particular about the spellings of trademarks. However, the final decision will only be taken in May after a session bench hears the details of the case.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Apple has been involved in a case of trademark infringement in India. There was a similar case about iPhone naming.
For a company as big as Apple, it is understandable that they will not be able to trademark every single product and service they offer. Local vendors/service providers often utilise this to their advantage by patenting some obscure feature and then claiming infringement, hoping to make a quick buck perhaps. However, like we said, this lawsuit doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere.
Interestingly, Vyooh is also a vendor for Microsoft. Now we’re not saying that they’re necessarily involved, but … We see what yooh did there Microsoft!
Source: ET Tech.