Apple's quest to secure a trademark in Switzerland dates back to 2017, when the tech giant from Cupertino, California, submitted an application to the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) seeking intellectual property rights for a realistic depiction of the Granny Smith apple—a widely recognized green apple variety. The application encompassed a wide range of potential uses, primarily in the realm of electronic, digital, and audiovisual consumer goods and hardware. After a lengthy exchange between the parties involved, the IPI granted partial rights to Apple's request last autumn, specifying that the company could only have rights related to certain goods. The IPI based its decision on a legal principle that considers generic images of common goods, like apples, to be part of the public domain. Apple subsequently launched an appeal in the spring.
The ongoing legal proceedings now solely focus on the goods for which the IPI denied the trademark. An IPI official mentioned that the specific goods couldn't be disclosed without Apple's consent due to the pending nature of the case. However, these goods include common applications such as audiovisual content intended for television and other transmission mediums.
Fruit Union Suisse director Jimmy Mariéthoz expresses concern on behalf of the organization, primarily due to the lack of clarity regarding which uses of the apple shape Apple intends to protect. Additionally, he highlights Apple's aggressive pursuit of potential trademark infringements, which adds to their worries. Mariéthoz states that any visual representation of an apple, including audiovisual content and associations with new technologies and media, could potentially be affected. This prospect poses a significant restriction for Fruit Union Suisse, as they believe the apple symbol should remain free for everyone to use. Mariéthoz further notes that advertising with an apple could now potentially lead to uncertain legal implications, creating a slippery slope.
In recent years, Apple has engaged in legal battles over trademarks with various entities, including a meal-prepping app featuring a pear logo, a singer-songwriter named Frankie Pineapple, a German cycling route, a pair of stationery manufacturers, and even a school district. One notable long-standing dispute was with Apple Corps, the music label associated with the Beatles. This conflict finally reached resolution in 2007.
According to an investigation conducted by the Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit organization focused on researching Big Tech, Apple filed more trademark oppositions between 2019 and 2021 than Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and Google combined. Notably, these companies have also trademarked common terms such as "Windows" or "Prime."
Apple has previously encountered trademark-related issues in Switzerland. In 2010, the trillion-dollar company reached an out-of-court agreement with a small Swiss grocers' cooperative to prevent the addition of a bite mark to its logo. That agreement, according to the cooperative's president at the time, stated was never part of their original plans.
However, Apple hasn't always emerged victorious in trademark disputes. In 2012, Swiss Federal Railways secured a $21 million settlement after demonstrating that Apple had copied the design of the Swiss railway clock. Additionally, in 2015, a watchmaker's existing "apple" trademark in Switzerland, obtained in the 1980s, compelled Apple to postpone the launch of its highly popular Apple Watch in the country.
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