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Apple, Woolworths in Australian trademark dispute, media in hysterically confused panic
Oh boy. So if you haven't already seen some news on this, Apple's opposing the formal registration of the Australian grocery store Woolworths' logo, pictured above. We'll be honest: we saw this story when it was first reported last night by The Age, and we passed on it. Why? Because while we're not experts in Australian trademark law, we happen to have an ex-US trademark attorney on staff (cough), and the Australian system is similar enough to the US system that a simple notice of opposition just isn't that interesting. Here's what's really going on, outside of the sad media frenzy that surrounds anything Apple does: in both the US and Australian systems, a trademark registration is applied for with the appropriate federal agency -- the USPTO, or, in this case, IP Australia. After a period of review by that office for eligibility, it's then published for other companies to review and potentially oppose because it would cause confusion with their own marks. This is the fundamental essence of the trademark process, and every company with a major mark goes through it several times a year -- it's not a lawsuit, and there's no judge or jury, just the trademark examiner. Sure, there are some potentially meaningful and expensive consequences, but filing and responding to oppositions is something that any trademark attorney does quite frequently, and it's not like Apple's aggressively suing anyone here. It's just part of the process. We'd also like to note that all these stories today have but a single source, and that Apple actually filed their notice of opposition in March but no one noticed until Woolworths talked to The Age. If we had to bet we'd say this is a tactical move by Woolworth's PR team to churn public opinion before a decision is issued -- and if it is, well, congratulations to them, because it certainly looks to us like the reality of this story has been totally overshadowed by the second, slightly more fictional story the tech media would like to tell. Sure, it'll be big news if Apple's opposition is successful and Woolworths registration is denied -- and we'll obviously cover it if it happens -- but chances are that Woolworths and Apple's highly-paid attorneys are going to quietly go through the trademark process and come out with an agreement, and we'll never hear about this again. Until the next time everyone gets this story wrong. Update: Oh, and just to make this perfectly clear, Woolworths' application covers "Retailing and wholesaling services including... electronic stores," so there's definitely overlap here. Update 2: You know, we've actually covered this exact same territory with Apple in the past -- will anyone ever learn? Read - Original story in The Age Read - Woolworths trademark filing 1258297 Read - Woolworths trademark filing 1258298
Apple versus Woolworths: logo smackdown
UPDATE 2: Be sure to read Engadget's analysis of what appears to be a non-event here. Apple is apparently getting hot and bothered over Australian/New Zealand supermarket chain Woolworths' new logo. Woolworths insists the logo is merely a stylized "W," but Apple's copyright lawyers aren't buying it. They're trying to knock down Woolworths' copyright application for the logo by claiming it violates Apple's intellectual property. Apparently, according to trademark lawyer Trevor Choy, Apple does this fairly often, trying to make sure that some other company's branding can't be mistaken for its iconic logo. I'll admit that at first glance the logos look similar (to me, anyway – my ex-graphic designer wife doesn't agree). Even so, it seems kind of a stretch to assume anyone is going to confuse Woolworths, a supermarket chain based only in Australia and New Zealand that mostly sells, you know, food, with Apple, a worldwide company that sells computers. Trust me, I shop at the Woolworths here in Palmerston North every week; it's a decent grocer, but nobody's going to wander in there looking for a MacBook Pro. What do you think? Does Apple have a case here? Or is it sort of ridiculous for Apple to claim that anything roundish with a leaf on top endangers its trademark? Sound off in the comments. UPDATE: A couple of points we should clear up on this post. First, Apple is not, in fact, the aggressor in this case. No one is, really. It is a trademark action, and as far as we know it has NOT become a lawsuit. It appears to be a part of the trademark process as it happens down under. Apple is free to object, and since Woolworths is attempting to register their mark across a huge range of products (like computers), they are practically obligated to do so. We'll keep an eye out for any interesting developments, however. - Ed.
Microsoft to Woolworths: Return the 360s we sold you; we'll keep your money
UK retailer Woolworths is set to close the remainder of its stores today after being put into administration (what we in the States know as liquidation) back in November. Microsoft is one of many companies seeking to recover their products from the chain before they get sold off to repay debts, but, according to The Times, it's going a step further. Under British law, MS can sue to get its consoles back even though Woolworths has already paid for them in full.Sound fishy? It does ... until you consider that the chain owes MS quite a lot of money despite having paid for the systems. MS is hoping to get the consoles back -- and resell them to cover part of what it was owed -- before the administrator of Woolworths' liquidation, Deloitte, can sell them on the cheap. In the meantime, Ubisoft is still out a decent amount of scratch thanks to the retailer's collsapse.[Via 1UP]
Ubi could lose $2m from Woolworths collapse
Ubisoft may be gnashing its teeth at the one that got away, but the French publisher will likely be thankful for any extra padding in its account following the much publicized Woolworths collapse. GI.biz reports that the UK retail chain's recent demise, along with its distribution business EUK, could end up costing Ubi €1.5 million, or something in the neighborhood of $2 million.Woolworths' going under is likely to be the subject of water cooler talk at other publishers as well, with UK tabloid The Sun suggesting earlier this week that both Microsoft and Nintendo could end up losing the millions of pounds currently owed to them by EUK. Truly the game industry is not insulated from the effects of the world's ongoing financial hardship. It's just unfortunate that in this global crisis, there is no Elika around to pull publishers back up to safety.
Europe receiving Xbox 360 price cut on Sept. 19
Microsoft announced today that Europe would be joining North America in receiving an Xbox 360 price cut. The UK will receive a £30 reduction across all three models, while those on the mainland will receive varied reductions for their Euros. Xbox 360 Arcade - £129 / €179 60GB Pro - £169 / €239 120GB Elite - £229 / €299 The previous prices were £159 / €199 for the Arcade, £199 / €269 for Pro and £259 / €369 for the Elite. We'll have to wait and see if the price drop doubles sales in Europe like it allegedly did in North America.
Rumor: Woolworths Xmas catalog shows UK Xbox 360 price drop
UK retailer Woolworths (not to be confused with the defunct US five and dime store) allegedly published a price cut for the Xbox 360 in the company's Christmas catalog, which officially releases in a couple weeks. Scans of the holiday booklet apparently show that each of Microsoft's consoles will receive a £30 cut, reducing the Arcade to £130, Pro to £170 and Elite to £230.Woolworths would not confirm the information to GI.biz, stating that "The Christmas 2008 Woolworths Big Red Book" will release the first week of October and, "until that date, remains a confidential document."
Woolworth's to cut Xbox 360 console prices in the UK?
We received the image above from a supposed Woolworth's employee who scanned an upcoming retail catalog for our sicko pleasures. We can't verify the claim, but we understand that Woolies is in the midst of an escalating, retail price war in the UK gaming space. As such, what we're likely looking at are promotional cuts from the normal, £160, £200, £260 prices for the Arcade, Premium, and Xbox 360 Elite consoles, respectively. Then again, the across the board price cuts in the US seem to have really paid off so who knows.[Thanks, Anonymous Tipster] Read -- Woolworth price war
Woolworths demoting HD DVD players to online sales only
According to new reports, Woolworths is following the wave and will be banishing HD DVD players from its stores starting in March. Reportedly, the move was substantiated by the fact that Blu-ray Discs outsold HD DVD titles "ten-to-one" in Woolies stores over the Christmas holidays, and in just a few weeks, consumers scouting a new HD DVD player from this particular retailer will have to place their order online. Interestingly, we're not told whether or not the firm plans on phasing out actual HD DVD movies as well, but we suppose we don't have long before finding out.[Via GamesIndustry, image courtesy of Stives-Town]
PlayStation 3 pre-orders are breaking records in Europe
Opening with a quote sounds appropriate: "It's the hottest gaming system since the PS2 launched in 2000 - demand will outstrip supply." That's coming from Woolworths head of games, Gerry Berkley. Woolworths is a UK store and that quote should tell you that the PS3 is going to hit Europe and hit it hard. How hard? Well, the estimate is that a PlayStation 3 pre-order is filed every twenty seconds for the past week. If you do the math, Woolworth is facing 3 per minute x 60 minutes in an hour x 24 hours in a day x 7 days per week in pre-orders... sorry for the messy numbers, but it comes out to 30,240 pre-orders!Don't get us wrong -- we know it's a random guesstimation on Woolworths part and couldn't possibly be completely accurate. But if it were, that's the best case (or worst case, depending) scenario Sony and all the European gamers could hope for. A single chain of stores taking in 30,000 pre-orders is nothing to scoff at. Well, enjoy breaking records while you can, PlayStation 3, because you can only break pre-order records before the system is released.
