An article from April 2008 on Wired.com discussed the computer company, Apple, filing a trademark infringement case against NYC & Company, a nonprofit company. NYC & Company partnered with Whole Foods last March to launch organic cotton shopping bags. The bags feature a logo for the New York City's GreeNYC campaign. The logo is a stylized apple with a stalk and a leaf.
Apple called for the trademark to be denied and claimed the city's logo will confuse people and "seriously injure the reputation which [Apple] has established for its goods and services." Gerald Singleton, the intelluctual-property lawyer representing NYC, said "the city believes that Apple's claims have no merit and that no consumer is likely to be confused."
Beth Goldman, an attorney at Heller Ehrman and head of the firm's San Francisco trademark group, said "when you talk about trademark infringement, the key issue is likelihood of confusion." Also that trademark protection extends to "sight, sound and meaning."
The next step in this trademark scuffle is to commission a series of independent surveys to gauge people's reaction to the new logo in order to see if Apple's opposition holds any merit. Goldman says, "the ultimate arbiter is the consumer." The dispute will play out over a period of 6 - 8 months, before a final decision is made by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the patent office.
This article was from April so there should be a decision made soon but I did not find one yet.
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