Apple trademarks its store design
Having not being satisfied with its dominance over round-cornered rectangles, Apple Inc. has now trademarked the design of its stores.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has permitted Apple’s 2010 petition for trademarks on its design elements such as “a clear glass storefront surrounded by a paneled façade” and an “oblong table with stools … set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall.”
It was well-know that the co-founder of Apple Steve Jobs was involved in almost every detail of the company’s retail stores, and held patents on some aspects of the stores such as the floating glass staircases. These features of the stores have been copied by competitors on occasions. In such a case in 2011, a blogger uploaded the photos of a fake Apple store in the Chinese city of Kunming, one of several in the area that sold Apple products without the company’s permission. The Chinese authorities were forced to take action on this and they ordered to close down some of those locations.
According to reports from Thomson Reuters, Apple’s trademark will not be enforced outside of the U.S., but companies that apply for trademarks domestically often seek similar protection internationally.
Trademark Registration in Japan
Patent Attorney：Hiroshi Oogai
Address：304 BUREX Hirakawacho 1-5-15 Hirakawa-cho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone：＋81-3-4570-0792
Mail：contact @ trademark-registration-japan.com
