Apple’s executives are left discontented, as their attempt to stop a company from using a brand name featuring an ‘i’ prefix, has been rejected by a trademarks tribunal.

The California-based global giant argued that the name DOPi (iPod spelt backwards) which the small company wished to use on its laptop bags and cases for apple merchandise, was too similar to its vastly popular iPod, which has made sales of over 100 million units.

Apple has a history of reprimanding companies for infringing its trademarks, but this time its legal force has been denied. The tribunal rejected Apple's claim that consumers might be confused when purchasing a DOPi product, assuming that they were buying an Apple product, said lawyers according to SMH.

Too many ‘i’s already on the market

The government body that oversees trademark applications said Apple overlooked the fact that that presently, numerous products already exist that feature the "i" prefix, for example iSkin and iSoft, operating in the same category of electronics as the leading manufacturer.

Michael Kirov, the registrar overseeing the case confessed to being both a tech-fan and lover of apple electronics, determined that that company failed to demonstrate that a "person of ordinary intelligence and memory" would automatically assume that a product with an ‘i’ is therefore an Apple product.

Intellectual property lawyer Trevor Choy said this is possibly the first case where IP Australia has said no on this issue, according to SMH.

"A competitor can sometimes get away with registering the reverse spelling of a registered trade mark - iPOD and DOPi. Here, they said that DOPi stands for 'Digital Options and Personalised Items'," Choy said.

Choy added that is this potentially clear the path for additional trademarks with the letter “i”, but doesn’t mean Apple’s trademark will be completely unprotected.
'They can do so more easily…But it is not guaranteed, because if they still steer too close, they can be stopped. For example, someone trying to register iPODE will still be seen as too close," he said.