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Apple is set to go to court in order to stop another company using the word ‘pod’ in the name of its product.
The lawsuit centres around a projector currently being developed by San Francisco-based start-up Sector Labs, called the Video Pod, which Apple claimed in its original legal filing could cause customers to confuse it with the iPod.
Daniel Kokin, the founder of Sector Labs, told Reuters: “My team started working on the Video Pod in 2000, and it took us years to go from prototype to funded.
“At that time, Apple didn’t even enter our minds as a competitor. Now it’s 2010 and I still don’t think Apple is interested in video projection, but I’m supposed to rename our product because Apple also uses ‘pod’?”
The case, which is likely to go to trial during the next month, is not Apple’s first claim to the three-letter word. The firm has also taken action against companies making devices with names including MyPodder, TightPod, PodShow and Podium. However, Sector Labs will be the first to go to trial over the use of ‘pod’.
The case follows Facebook’s recent claims to the words ‘face’ and ‘book’, taking legal action against sites called Teachbook and Faceparty.
