ក្រុមហ៊ុន​អយស្ម័យយាន​រុស្ស៊ី​ប្ដឹង Apple ពី​បទ​រំលោភ​កម្មសិទ្ធិ​បញ្ញា Russian Railways sue Apple over copyright violations

Russian Railways sue Apple over copyright violations

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Published: 16 January, 2013, 02:07

TAGS:
Russia, USA, Corporate news, Roads

RIA Novosti / Vitaliy Ankov

Russia’s national railway company has filed a lawsuit against US-based Apple Inc over copyright infringement. The company is seeking compensation of some $65,000 for the allegedly illegal use of its logo in a third party application.
­Railways are determined to defend their “intellectual” property in a lawsuit case connected to the unauthorized use of the company’s logo in Apple’s online shop, a spokesperson for Russian Railways told the Rapsi legal news agency.
“RZD intends to protect its intellectual property, especially since the trademark is well known in the Russian Federation,” Russian Railways notes in its statement.
It is alleged that Russian company’s logo was used as part of a “Railway Tariff” app sold through Apple’s application shop. The application allows its users to track cargo delivery costs and delivery times across Russia.
This is not the first time Steve Job’s company has been dragged into similar copyright battles. Last year, Swiss Railways accused Apple of copying its clock design in the new iOS 6 system. The case was reportedly settled with $21 million of licensing fees paid for the design.
In 2009, Cartier sued Apple for using its logo without permission. It withdrew the suit after the Silicone Valley giant pulled those third party apps from the store.

Russian Railways sues Apple over trademark infringement

By Cody Lee, Jan 15, 2013

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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.