Apple to Small Startup: Ditch That Logo or Else

The tech giant sues Prepear over its logo of, you guessed it, a pear
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2020 2:42 PM CDT
Apple Sues 5-Employee Startup Over Its Logo
In this Dec. 23, 2013, file photo, a woman using a phone walks past Apple's logo near its retail outlet in Beijing.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Note to small startups: Try not using a fruit logo. Apple might get mad. The tech behemoth has again filed suit over a fruity logo—this time against a five-employee startup called Prepear that advertises itself with the image of a green pear, Entrepreneur reports. Now Russell Monson, the recipe app's founder, has posted an online petition (you can see the pear logo there) seeking people's support: "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," he writes, but "we feel a moral obligation to take a stand against Apple's aggressive legal action." His petition has more than 63,000 signatures so far.

As for Apple, it says Prepear's logo will "cause dilution" and confuse customers about which company is which, per the Verge. "Applicant's Mark consists of a minimalistic fruit design with a right-angled leaf, which readily calls to mind Apple’s famous Apple Logo and creates a similar commercial impression," the company says in its filing to stop PrePear's trademark application. But Monson says Apple has already opposed dozens of small businesses with fruit logos, and often won, so he wants to send a message: "Bullying small businesses has consequences." Among his petition signatories, one writes that "obviously we are comparing apples to pears here. Not even close." (More Apple stories.)

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