Apple is holding a media event on October 27 to unveil new Macs. Everyone is expecting the company to announce a next-generation MacBook Pro with a rumored OLED strip that would replace the physical function keys at the top of the keyboard with programmable shortcuts which would change from one app to another. But what could Apple call that rumored OLED touch bar?
According to trademark agent Brian Conroy who was able to uncover a trademark application that a shell company quite likely filed for on behalf for Apple, the feature could be marketed as “Magic Toolbar.”
The company that filed a trademark application is called Presto Apps America LLC, incorporated in Delaware on January 22, 2016. Just two weeks after Presto Apps America was incorporated, it filed the “Magic Toolbar” trademark.
We know Apple keeps its trademark filings secret either by filing them overseas or at home, through shell companies.
Given that this particular trademark application costs around $17,500 and knowing Apple already owns trademarks for “Magic Trackpad”, ”Magic Mouse” and “Magic Keyboard”, it is highly unlikely that “Magic Toolbar” was protected by any other company.
Conroy writes:
They would almost certainly be able to stop any other company applying for the trademark ‘Magic Toolbar’, on the basis it’s similar to their existing trademarks and likely to cause confusion.
So, another company would have to be 100% certified insane to spend €16,000 in outlay for a trademark application that someone with the clout of Apple was almost certain to be able to object to and defeat. And that’s the main reason that I’m putting my neck on the line and saying that ‘Presto Apps America LLC’ is actually Apple.
Besides, the lawyers that applied for the “Magic Toolbar” application are the same people behind Apple’s “AirPod” trademark.
I think “Magic Toolbar” would be the perfect marketing moniker for the rumored OLED strip on the next MacBook Pro. Apple’s keyboards, mice and trackpads have “Magic” in their name and it would make sense to call the upcoming feature “Magic Toolbar”.
Thoughts?
Source: Brian Conroy