I don’t know what it is with Apple and European railways, but another one has taken up a beef with the Cupertino company. Today, Russian Railways announced that it has issued a trademark infringement suit against Apple.
The reason behind the lawsuit is still not entirely clear, but it looks like it has something to do with third-party apps in the App Store that use RZD’s (that’s the abbreviation for Russian Railways) logo without permission…
Here’s the full statement from RZD (via CNET):
“Clarification of the lawsuit JSC “Russian Railways” company to Apple Inc.
JSC “Russian Railways” to the Arbitration Court of Moscow with a claim concerning infringement of the exclusive right to the trademark under the certificate No. 341333 by Apple Inc. We are talking about the use of the trademark of “Russian Railways” in the online store Apple Store by posting pictures.
The Company intends to continue to protect its intellectual property, especially as the decision of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of the trademark [is] recognized as well known in the Russian Federation.”
The story is a bit redolent of Apple’s recent tiff with Swiss Federal Railways. The SBB charged the company with using its iconic clock design in its iOS 6 iPad Clock app without permission. Apple settled the case for $20 million.
But seeing how this more than likely has to do with 3rd party apps using Russian Railways’ logo, the solution this time may be as easy as pulling those titles. We should be hearing more about this in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.