Apple claims this start-up's obvious 'pear-shaped' logo hurts its brand
What's the story
Apple has taken legal action against a small start-up, claiming that its logo closely resembles its own and hurts the "Apple" brand image. Now, while cases like these are pretty common, this particular one is drawing a lot of attention because even a kid can tell that the logo of the company, Prepear, does not match that of Apple, not even loosely. Here's more.
Company
Prepear, a meal planning service launched 5 years ago
Spun out of the "Super Healthy Kids" meal-planning site, Prepear is an application that lets you store all your recipes in one place, plan your meals, make grocery lists, and get them delivered. It was launched five years ago and is run by a small team, which has now been hit by Apple's legal action, Natalie, the co-founder of the app, wrote on Instagram.
Objection
Apple's objection against Prepear's trademark application
Natalie has alleged that Apple has taken legal action objecting to Prepear's use of a simple "pear-shaped logo". "The trillion-dollar Apple, has decided to oppose and go after our small business trademark, saying our pear logo is too close to their apple logo and supposedly hurts their brand? This is a big blow to us at Prepear," she added in the Instagram post.
Quote
Cupertino giant demands logo replacement, but Prepear is fighting back
"Apple has opposed the trademark application for our small business...demanding that we change our obviously pear shaped logo, used to represent our brand in the recipe management and meal planning business," Prepear co-founder and COO, Russell Monson, wrote in a Change.org petition against Apple's action.
Support
Over 14,000 have signed the petition
So far, more than 14,000 people have expressed support for the petition against Apple's aggressive and unwarranted legal action. The online petition goes on to note that fighting the Cupertino giant has already cost Prepear thousands of dollars and one team member, but it is their moral obligation to stand against such acts and fight for the right to keep their brand identity.
Accusation
Apple also accused of similarly hitting other small businesses
In the petition, the Prepear co-founder also calls out Apple of targeting other small companies with fruit logos. "Apple has been opposing small businesses with fruit-related logos by starting expensive legal action even when those logos don't look anything like Apple's logo, or aren't in the same line of business as Apple," he writes, describing this whole action as "bullying" by big tech.