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Fujitsu在日本一年前就已推出了名为iPad的手机。 Bra inserts and engines: iPad name not original February 1, 2010 - 11:19AM  Fujitsu's iPAD device. Photo: AFPApple'snew tablet PC is not the first product to be called the "iPad". Japan'sFujitsu says it launched one years ago, and the name has also been usedfor small engines and even bra inserts. Amid the hype about Apple's latest offering,the device has been hailed as an "iPhone on steroids" and a "Kindlekiller" that will upstage electronic book readers, but also mocked onchatrooms for evoking a feminine hygiene product. Now it looks like Apple could have a trademark dispute on its hands. FujitsuLtd. said its US subsidiary in 2002 launched the "iPad", a sleekhandheld multimedia device with a 3.5-inch screen, used by retail storeclerks to keep inventory data, scan barcodes and manage businessoperations. Fujitsu's device has an Intel processor and a Microsoft operating system and supports both Wi-fi and Bluetooth connections. In2003, Fujitsu's US arm made a trademark application for the "iPad" namewith the US Patent and Trademark Office, which is still pending and notyet registered, said Fujitsu spokesman Masao Sakamoto in Tokyo. Hesaid Fujitsu was yet to decide on how it may react to the launch ofApple's tablet computer, saying: "As we are now sorting out the facts,we have not decided on what action we may take." Apossible feud between Apple and Fujitsu has sparked debate on Japanesechatrooms, with one observer proposing: "Let's apply for as many 'i'such-and-such names as possible! We'll make money in the future!!" Applehas been embroiled in trademark disputes with other companies before,including Cisco Systems, which launched its "iPhone" before Apple. Thetwo companies settled the dispute in 2007, agreeing to share the name. ProfessorTeruyuki Inoue, an IT sector expert at Daito Bunka University, said the"iPad" issue is unlikely to turn into a full-blown legal battle. "Theywill probably have talks to settle this, given that the customers fortheir products do not overlap, and for the sake of their business tiesin the future," Inoue told AFP by telephone. Hesaid he was not surprised the two companies had doubled up on the name,saying: "Everybody can think of an easy name like 'iPad.' It's notcreative." Indeed several other companies worldwide have had the same idea. Germany's Siemens uses the trademark "iPad" for small engines and motors. TheSwiss-based microchip maker STMicroelectronics has reportedly alsoregistered "IPAD", short for "Integrated Passive and Active Devices." InCanada, the Ontario-based company Coconut Grove Pads Inc. has since2007 made a line of bra inserts and shoulder pads called the "iPad",according to an online report by the Globe and Mail daily. AJapanese company that makes a product of the same name -- pronounced"ai pad" when transcribed from the Japanese -- is Awaji-Tec, amanufacturer of adult nappies with a high-tech twist. Thecompany says its nappies feature an electronic device that can send asignal to a remote caregiver when it needs to be changed. "Wehave been selling this elderly care product for the past five years,said Yasuaki Mori, who works at Awaji-Tec's special sensors division."It would be regrettable if people thought we had copied the name." Meanwhilein China, a company has used a different name -- the "P88" -- for aniPad look-alike, with a slightly larger screen, faster processor andlarger memory but battery life of only 1.5 hours compared to the iPad's10 hours. It marks a new milestone by Chinesemanufacturers -- cloning a product before it had even been announced --mused Shanghaiist.com, a Shanghai city blog, and Shanzhai.com, a techblog dedicated to Chinese copies. But the makers of the P88, ShenzhenGreat Loong Brother Industrial Co., said Apple appeared to be thecopycats. "We don't understand. Why did they makethe same thing as us?" Huang Xiaofang, an executive at the company,told AFP. "We launched it earlier." |
