Apple has taken legal action against a small meal prep business, Prepear over logo similarities. The iPhone maker claims that Prepear app’s green pear fruit logo copy’s the same minimalistic design with a slanted leaf which “readily calls to mind Apple’s famous Apple Logo and creates a similar commercial impression.”
Prepear is an app by SuperHealthyKids website which offers a variety of meal plans, recipes, healthy food alternative, and an option to get groceries delivered to users’ doorsteps. Although from a completely unrelated industry, the iPhone maker has still filed for trademark copyrights.
Prepear’s Petition Against Apple
As a small business, Prepear’s parent company has taken its case to the public on social media trying to gain support in its legal battle against Cupertino tech giant. On Instagram, the CEO of SuperHealthyKids, Natalie posted:
Recently @apple yes, 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?
The meal prep company has also started a petition ‘Save the Pear from Apple’ on change.org in the hope to get 10 thousand signatures to pressurize the iPhone maker to drop the case. Natalie explained that her company was a small 5 member team that can not afford to continue with a costly legal case. The petition states:
“We are a very small business with only 5 team members, and legal costs from our fight for the right of all small business owners to be able to develop their own logo without fear of frivolous litigation has already cost us many thousands of dollars and the very saddening layoff of one of our team members.
It is a very terrifying experience to be legally attacked by one of the largest companies in the world, even when we have clearly done nothing wrong, and we understand why most companies just give in and change their logos. We feel a moral obligation to take a stand against Apple’s aggressive legal action against small businesses and fight for the right to keep our logo. We are defending ourselves against Apple not only to keep our logo, but to send a message to big tech companies that bullying small businesses has consequences.”
As per the Natalie, this is not the first time that the iPhone maker has filed for legal action over logo trademark and has a history of bullying small businesses into changing their logo design.
“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 at all.
Apple has opposed the trademark application for our small business, Prepear, demanding that we change our obviously pear shaped logo, used to represent our brand in the recipe management and meal planning business. Before attacking us, Apple has opposed dozens of other trademark applications filed by small businesses with fruit related logos. Many of those logos were changed or abandoned. Most small businesses cannot afford the tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to fight Apple.”
Currently, the petition has over 14,000 signatories and counting. We hope both the companies resolve this issue amicably. Apple has not commented on the matter.
Apple writes that a kids-centric meal plan service is something a normal consumer is like to associate with Apple, so….PrePear can suck it!
If that isn’t an argument in favor of breaking up Apple on the grounds of anti-competetive monopolistic behavior, I don’t know what is.