Apple Sues Over iGasm Ads

funkeymonkeyman writes "Apple is less than pleased with an interesting new peripheral for the iPod which promises to 'take your appreciation of music to a whole new level.' Legal action has been taken against Ann Summers, the manufacturers of the new device, specifically for the similarity of the iGasm advertisements to the iconic iPod silhouette ads. The CEO of the adult retail chain replied to the threat cheerily, 'Perhaps I can send them an iGasm to put a smile back on their faces.'"

I don't know about you

[Anonymous Coward]

But iCame.

Re:I don't know about you

[Rude Turnip]

How about...i'llgetfiredprobablytomorrowforfollowingaN SFWlinkfarkyouneal

Re:I don't know about you

[PopeRatzo]

It's OK, you hate that job anyway.

Re:I don't know about you

[Hatta]

Which link is NSFW? There's no nudity or bad language on the iGasm page.

Re:I don't know about you

[Just Some Guy]

This isn't Fark. Either man up and tell your boss about something funny you saw so that he hears about it first from you, or take some responsibility for yourself and don't click links in a story about a sex toy.

Re:

[Zemran]

even though everyone else iGnored you...

Re:

[Bob of Dole]

Apple is upset because of the ADS, not because of the name or the product.
She's using the colored background + black silhouettes style of their iPod ads.

Re:

[TheRaven64]

If they're looking for people to sue...

Last time I was in NYC, I stayed in the 'Pod Hotel' (which I'd recommend to someone looking for a cheap place to stay). They had silhouette people dancing on screens in the foyer, and seemed to be using the iPod association to strengthen their brand a lot.

Re:I don't know about you

[1u3hr]

Who cares, the ad is a parody and that's that.

The ad is a parody, but the iGasm is an actual product (unless it's a hoax?). Parody is a defence for copyright infringement. This would be about trademark and patents. Since they're actually selling goods which are obviously meant to suggest an iPod style, it probably does infringe.

Re:

[julesh]

Parody has successfully been used as a defence against trademark infringements, also. See this excellent article [everything2.com] on the subject. It seems tricky to make the defence work, but it can be done.

Re:I don't know about you

[cenonce]

The ad is not a parody and to suggest that it is simply because it is posted on Slashdot (where everything is "fair use", "prior art" and "parody"!) is nonsense. For a parody defense to work, she needs to be making some kind of commentary about the original product. She is actually advertising her product for use with an iPod! Read a case like Acuff-Rose [cornell.edu] for parody in copyright. If she is taking Apple's "sillhouette ads" and copying them to advertise her "device", it is copyright infringement, pure and simple. Heck, she could be advertising tires and it would be copyright infringment.

Re:

[pla]

The ad is not a parody

She called the thing an "iGasm"! If you don't see the parody there, consider yourself officially humor-impaired.


If she is taking Apple's "sillhouette ads" and copying them to advertise her "device", it is copyright infringement, pure and simple.

True. But she didn't just take Apple's ads and copy them - She took the style of Apple's ads (remember Apple losing that suit 15 years ago to Microsoft?) and parodied it, albeit for the purpose of promoting her own product.

Re:

[1u3hr]

The ad is not a parody

Yes it is. If she is taking Apple's "sillhouette ads" and copying them to advertise her "device", it is copyright infringement, pure and simple

No it's not. She's not "copying" them in the digital sense, which would be an infringement, but imitating. You can't copyright a style of advertisement. Considering how ads blatantly steal (or are "inspired by") other ads all the time, this is obviously accepted practice.

Re:

[megaditto]

I am gonna sue them too for stealing my idea.

I have always said that the iPod fanboys/girls should shove it.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[Stewie241]

But doesn't confusion go right out the window when the product is an iGasm? I mean... come on... are people that stupid that they would think Apple would produce a vibrator?

Life imitates art

[Ed Avis]

Indeed, the existence of an Apple-branded vibrator was foreseen on the net: the iBrator [geneffects.com].

Re:I don't know about you

[MarsBar]

So you bunch of Apple fanboyz all agree that Apple's in the right?

Shock!

Re:

[SailorRipley]

thank god the "experts" at the apple product store are absolutely convinced Apple has an airtight case here...I was starting to worry nobody did

Re:I don't know about you

[Hognoxious]

We discussed this the other day at work (apple product retailer) [...] Everyone agreed however, that the silhouette ad all by itself was infringing

Everyone, as in a bunch of shop assistants? Pardon me if I'm not convinced.

The cocky response from the iGasm rep

Don't really need to comment.

Re:Parody ?

[bkr1_2k]

"iAnal"

You do? Maybe we should talk.

Darth Vader says "Do Not Want"

[Dogtanian]

It's bad enough on its own, but can you imagine the horrific "action shots" featuring out-of-shape wannabe geeks in those... things, if they sold it on ThinkGeek?!

Besides which, it reads "To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before". What happened to the infinitive-splitting "boldly"?- your average nerd *will* complain about such things.

That Ann Summers site is cheesier than a Swiss cheese factory, too.

Re:

[dwater]

> Besides which, it reads "To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before". What happened to the infinitive-splitting "boldly"?- your average nerd *will* complain about such things.

Well, Ann Summers is English, so it's no wonder they corrected it.

> That Ann Summers site is cheesier than a Swiss cheese factory, too.

Again, Ann Summers is English, so Cheddar would be more appropriate, since that is English also.

No bad publicity

[farker haiku]

And suddenly she's going to make a shitload of money because of the lawsuit.

Re:

[sunwukong]

Yike -- poor choice of words! How soon until iTubGirl?!

Re:No bad publicity

[chuckymonkey]

Exactly, I never heard of it before this. Now I'm going to buy one for my wife just to see it in action.

Re:No bad publicity

[rtyall]

See "Wife", Read "self".
See "just to see it in action", read "to replace the electric toothbrush".
Sorry, saw the joke and took it.

Don't bother

[Anonymous Coward]

She loved the one I got her.

Re:

[mrbluze]

And suddenly she's going to make a shitload

That has to stink!

Re:No bad publicity

[AGMW]

I think they make enough money that whilst this publicity may improve sales of this product it won't make much difference to their bottom line.

He He. HeHe. Bottom. He He.

Let me correct that headline for you.

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

Headline should read:

Apple's usual litigation-trigger-happy attitude has netted an incalculable amount of free publicity to Anne Summers.

I can't really see how Apple can claim some sort of copyright over silhouettes. I mean - the original iPod adds seemed very.... reminiscent of the James Bond opening credits sequences from the 70s.

Perhaps Apple is jealous that the Anne Summers' logo also contains an Apple [wikimedia.org].

Re:Let me correct that headline for you.

[Xiroth]

To be honest, I seriously doubt they actually care - popular peripherals can only increase the demand for their products. All they're doing is ensuring that there's a clear gap between them so that if some think-of-the-children types kick up a fuss then they can say 'We have nothing to do with them - look, we even tried to shut them down via lawsuit.'

This kind of publicity helps both parties, and I say more power to them if the media is running with it.

Re:

[Achromatic1978]

It helps both parties? I can't believe you see no issue with Apple causing another entity that is not even a competitor at least several tens of thousands (if not hundreds, indeed if not millions) in legal costs for the potential to be able not to offend the easily offended.

Re:

[Altus]

by copying the advertising they are making it look like the accessory is some how related to apple when it is not. Now they may be within their rights using the advertising style but apple is within their rights to challenge that use. If their adds were different (and from what I have read apple made a legitimate attempt to get them to change it before filing this suit) there would be no law suit.

This really isn't that unreasonable. They designed those adds to look like apples and apple doesn't want them

Re:

[fucksl4shd0t]

Well, I'm considering one now. For my wife, of course. I've always wanted to wire my wife's vibrator to my guitar, only she doesn't have one. :(

Re:Let me correct that headline for you.

[Boogaroo]

This wouldn't be a copyright issue. You can't copyright a style, but you can trademark it. There's still a catch there. You have actively defend your trademark or you lose it. You also have to apply for a trademark(unlike copyright where it's automatically a given). I think Apple's on the losing side of this issue. After all, you've pointed out one other example of the same idea. I'm sure it won't be hard for a decent lawyer to come up with a few more.

Honestly? I agree with your point: Apple has just given tons of free advertising to the iGasm product.
Regardless of any result of the lawsuit, they'll probably have quite a few sales they wouldn't have gotten. Question is, will it pay more than the lawyer's fees.

Re:Let me correct that headline for you.

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

You can't copyright a style, but you can trademark it.

No. You can't trademark a style.

TM details FWIW

[chub_mackerel]

Some clarity on TM, at least in US...

No, you can't trademark a style.

You can trademark almost anything that creates a connection in a consumer's mind between a product/service and its origin. Historically this has included logos, words, sounds (Harley Davidson's engine noise), images, even colors (Corningware's "pink" insulation), shapes of products (Weber Grill), type of decoration in a restaurant, called "trade dress" (Taco Cabana).

If whenever you see commercials of a certain "style" and you think "Apple/iPod", then the style is likely trademark material. If another company's using the same style to sell a similar/related product (as opposed to engaging in satire or public comment which is more protected) then I'd put my money on the trademark holder.

...You also have to apply for a trademark(unlike copyright where it's automatically a given)...

Wrong again, at least in the US. Most trademark rights come from using the trademark, not from applying for it. The Trademark office register the mark for you, which gives you some considerable procedural advantages (hence there is a process sort of like patent application that you need to go through), but there's no requirement to register your mark in order to have a trademark. All of which is probably beside the point in this instance, since I bet Apple registered something related to whatever they're suing over.

Re:TM details FWIW

[jabuzz]

Perhaps, but Ann Summers is a U.K. firm so US law and practice will have no bearing whatsoever in a U.K. court of law.

Re:

[Kjella]

Ok so it doesn't apply in this case, but that must be one of the saner laws I've heard from the US lately. Trademarks exists to not create confusion in the marketplace, and copying the name and the ad style... yes, it does sound like Apple's adult line accessories. Or that it's some variation of "in cooperation with Apple, Inc.". Every company should have to create their own identity, not be "identity leeches" of other companies (at least not without permission). How exsctly is rather immaterial to the issu

Re:

[chub_mackerel]

Well, or maybe not. After all, the trademark of the product itself isn't being infringed, only the ads are similar, and the ads aren't the product.

Furthermore, the question is not whether the item or ads are "similar", the question is whether buyers are likely to confuse the origin of the products. That's a hard argument for Apple to make. First, the product is in a completely different product category, a category that Apple has never sold anything in. Second, there are many products that are far more c

Re:

[hearingaid]

Answer, of course - it doesn't apply to ads. Design patents are a completely different and mostly totally useless area of intellectual property law. You want to look at trademark.

Fortunately, Chub Mackerel is mostly correct. You don't actually have to go to court to defend a trademark every time, but it's a good idea. Your lawyer will tell you to, and your lawyer is usually right. But to reiterate - The purpose of trademark law is to avoid consumer confusion. Any form of commercial speech which might confus

Re:

[mwvdlee]

Let me correct that headline again;

"Apple Sues Over Advertising Copy-Cats".

This seems more about the fact that they're stealing their advertising style than about whether it's a sex toy. The ads are a blatant ripoff; basically they are identical except for the wires leading a different direction. Don't you think Apple would have sued just as much if the ads were about headphones or such?

Re:Let me correct that headline for you.

[fractoid]

I can't really see how Apple can claim some sort of copyright over silhouettes. I mean - the original iPod adds seemed very.... reminiscent of the James Bond opening credits sequences from the 70s.

Isn't that Apple's approach to all of their 'revolutionary' stylistic stuff? "We stole it first. You can't have it!"

Revenge

[Tablizer]

Rather than sue, Apple can fight fire with fire by introducing the OrgPod.

Re:

[plover]

Don't forget the iBrator [flamingmailbox.com].

Only suing vibrators?

[adona1]

Personally, I'm surprised they haven't started suing the iGoatse [extraneo.it]...which almost makes me wish I had an iPod ;)

Re:

[Tablizer]

Personally, I'm surprised they haven't started suing the iGoatse [link]...which almost makes me wish I had an iPod ;)

iNot gonna click that link. Volunteers?
     

Re:

[jcgf]

I checked it out, it's just an ipod cover designed in such a way to look like fingers holding open the part where the wheel is. The cover in question is pink and not at all realistic looking. Take a look, it isn't gross or disturbing at all.

Re:Come on, be a man!

[Tablizer]

What is the worst thing that can happen?

Um, a lifetime of reoccuring horrid flasbacks like one's own personal Clockwork Orange.
           

Re:Only suing vibrators?

[Lehk228]

it works better on the black ipod with the red click wheel

Re:

[weighn]

it works better on the black ipod with the red click wheel

you know those fluro sox that they sell as iPod covers? Well do they come in black fishnet?

Attention Slashdotters:

[Anonymous Coward]

Sex. That is all.

Re:

[Tablizer]

Sex. That is all.

We're just jealous a cheap little machine gets more than us. And I thought offshoring was bad...
   

Anybody here try it?

[Tablizer]

Have any of you slashgals tried it yet? Does it work, or is it just a gimmick?

Re:

[flyingsquid]

Wait a minute. There are actually women on this site?

Re:Anybody here try it?

[martinX]

I tried it. It hurt my bum.

Hang on, this is for chicks to use? Man, was I duped...

Re:

[Tablizer]

Hang on, this is for chicks to use? Man, was I duped...It hurt my bum.

The multisex one is called R-fuss. (Say it over and over if the name ain't click at first.)
       

This has been done before

[Anonymous Coward]

A few years back, RMS released GNU/Gasm, an open source package similar to this one. The only downside was that it only worked with his songs.

MS-Dildows

[Tablizer]

My wife bought a MS-Dildows 2.0, but it got stuck in there. We can't get it out until we put a new battery in, but the battery opening is facing inward. I told her before to use Lipnux instead, but she had to go conventional.
       

iGasm Haiku

[Chas]

Little pod I see
The screaming, it's so damn loud
Anger or pleasure?

Re:iGasm Haiku

[ozbird]

Brown Microsoft Zune, Oh, you have no friends to squirt; Cancel or Allow?

I for one ...

[instagib]

... welcome our new iGasm vibrated female colleague overload!

Re:I for one ...

[weighn]

... welcome our new iGasm vibrated female colleague overload!

welcome our new iGasm vibrated female college undergrad!

There, fixed that for you

The iGasm is ok, but....

[appleguru]

...the OhMiBod vibrator rocks its socks off ;) I got one for my girlfriend for her birthday this year and I've been seeing less of her ever since. http://www.ohmibod.com/ [ohmibod.com]

Re:The iGasm is ok, but....

[Anonymous Coward]

You're posting to slashdot. With account name "appleguru". And your link goes to a site about modding video game consoles. Of the millions of people reading slashdot, I can count on one hand the number of people that believe you.

Unless by "girlfriend" you meant "girl I barely know, who filed sexual harrassment charges after I creeped her out with an OhMiBod vibrator gift." That one I'd believe.

Don't forget the tv ad

[cbuskirk]

http://adsoftheworld.com/node/10351/play [adsoftheworld.com]

Re:

[thehossman]

That's a different ipod vibrator attachment: The Oh mi bod [softparis.com]. I wonder why Apple hasn't sued them.

iGasm beat

[Vskye]

I'd have to say that the Metallica song whiplash would even make Hilary Clinton smile with this outfit. (turn it up Bill, turn it UP!!!) We might even get lucky, and she'll be so happy that it will keep her out of politics. (one can only wish)

Re:iGasm beat

[X0563511]

Please, don't EVER make a comment combining Hillary Clinton and a sex toy. EVER. The mind is an eye one cannot gouge out.

Re:

[Vskye]

That was frick'in funny!! LMAO! Mod this one up.

The mind is an eye one cannot gouge out.

[patio11]

Icepicks, man, icepicks. Now if you'll excuse me I have to track one down myself.

Now we know...

[figleaf]

...why the Apple silhouette shakes so much.

streisand effect again

[e**(i pi)-1]

Again the Streisand effect [wikipedia.org] but with an other twist: while every lawyer by now knows about this phenomenon, they take it into account but still chose legal action is taken to prevent other people to repeat this. What they do not realize yet is that advertisers or product managers will in future even more try to use names and pictures close to successful other pictures in order to use the free publicity from a lawsuit.

Hello the future's Microsoft

[towsonu2003]

I know that you won't get this and hence mod me down. That's fine.

But they are trying to form a cultural monopoly... Very much like what Microsoft is doing. But different from Microsoft, in this case at least, they are using the society's negative feelings towards women's sexuality when it is freed of men. It is also interesting to observe how women's sexuality is desirable for Apple (just like for any other corporation) when it is the object of the male gaze, and undesirable when it is depicted as self-governing, hence not needing the presence of a penis.

Re:

[JustShootMe]

so are you saying this is a reDICKulous lawsuit?

I don't know. I kind of like my penis, and I also kind of like it when a woman needs a penis, preferably mine. But I used all of my mod points this afternoon on a much less amusing thread, so you're safe. :)

(alas, no one has needed it in many years... which is why I am posting on slashdot on a thread about an ipod vibrator that I will probably never buy, see, use, or get within 10 feet of knowingly...)

Re:

[towsonu2003]

lol

alas, no one has needed it in many years... which is why I am posting on slashdot on a thread about an ipod vibrator that I will probably never buy, see, use, or get within 10 feet of knowingly...

A bit offtopic but still... You reminded me of this: if you buy this item, you will have to buy an iPod too. So really, Apple is using his penis too much in his thinking activities... This product is actually profitable for him. I guess sometimes your penis is more important than your profit (eat that, Chomsky!

Re:

[JustShootMe]

My penis is almost more important than food. Except I need food to keep my penis alive.

It all... umm.. balances out in the end.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

postmodern buzzword alert: "male gaze."

It doesn't seem like this is a male hegemony issue, although after three years of LCS courses I know all too well how easy it is to use feminist theory to analyze everything. I honestly don't think the issue here is the presentation of females as sexually independent of men, it's that product x is being marketed using a knock-off of Apple's Style(TM). I'd imagine they'd still be going after the company if they made the iVag (a male sex toy.)

Young wippersnappers

[Tablizer]

Back in my day we had to use popsickle sticks, paperclips, and wound-up rubberbands. (That's where the name "whippersnapper" came from.) You young'uns have it easy. Kiss my iShov you spoiled punks!
       

"on the go"

[weighn]

brings a whole new feel to your "on the go" playlist,
just make sure all your tunes end with a long ritard

Re:

[JustShootMe]

You mean Ron Jeremy?

Ohhhh, you said long ritard. My bad.

duh

[zobier]

This is about the third time something like this has come up and I can't believe I still haven't seen the alternate name iRod suggested.

Re:

[JustShootMe]

Or maybe the iMwet?

Re:

[Virtual_Raider]

Well, I guess that's because its marketed to women, not men. Surprisingly, women tend to regard sex from a female perspective and if they are going to buy a sex toy in general terms they would be more interested in themselves. They do not have "Rods" and probably think of similar terminology as immature guy-slang. But they do have orgasms. I say the name was well chosen.

Weird

[towsonu2003]

Did they trademark photos and images containing a silhouette with overexposed pixels that form a line in them? Or did they trademarked silhouettes that listen to music? Or dance?

I guess a monopoly is a monopoly, whether it is Microsoft or Apple...

iFuck

[Tablizer]

Gals, go natural and organic and let me introduce (in) to you my iFuck device. Its free and requires no batteries.

Re:

[weighn]

Gals, ...

sorry, this is slashdot

*checks if gashdot.org is available*

Re:

[Oktober Sunset]

Mr C does have one bad habit tho, Cyberskin is a mixture of unstable rubber compounds containing a load of Phthalates, it will constantly out gass, chemicaly deteriorate, and absorb liquids.

Mr S would be better. Surgical grade silicone is widely acknowledged as the premier sex toy material.

Ann Summers

[Animats]

If you haven't spent much time in the UK, you may not realize that Ann Summers is a major retail chain, with hundreds of sex shops. It's like Victoria's Secret in the US, but harder-core.

Re:Ann Summers

[muellerr1]

Is this one of those funny translation things where we say 'fries' and you say 'chips' and we say 'chips' and you say 'crisps' and we say 'overpriced underwear store' and you say 'sex shop'? Because as far as I know, Victoria's Secret doesn't sell toys, whips, chains, or anything but expensive underwear. Though maybe that's what you meant by 'harder-core' and if so, yes, sex toys are harder-core than just plain old underwear.

AAaaaagggh!

[durin]

Damn porn filter at work.

Here's the image

[Ed Avis]

iGasm poster [product-reviews.net] that Apple complained about

I am confiscating

[Organic Brain Damage]

my daughters' iPods. Right now!

Copyright, not trademark

[maroberts]

As far as I can tell, Apple is upset over the copying of the advert, not so much the device itself.

A recent UK Court of Appeal case has significantly narrowed the scope of Trademark protection, essentially stating that the public are savvy enough to recognise that the use of the same trademark in two different markets is not "passing off". However, this defense may be slightly scuppered by the ad, which does attempt a form of "passing off" and association.

The main complaint really seems to be blatant copying of the ad, and is therefore a Copyright issue. As others have stated, parody is not (officially) a defense in UK Copyright law, but taking the mickey has long been recognised unofficially. A classic example was the "Made In Wales" series of adverts which was parodied by the "Not the Nine O'Clock News" comedy show. The parody was so good , that it was alleged the Welsh Development Agency showed them to real potential clients alongside the original adverts. Also the term "Fair Use" does exist in UK law, and this may perhaps be construed to include parody.

Hey Steve

[sunderland56]

Perhaps I can send them an iGasm to put a smile back on their faces.

Did she just (very politely) tell Steve Jobs to stick it up his ass?

Unafraid!

[shelterpaw]

Apparently she's unafraid to get screwed by an Apple.

Let me re-correct the headline for you...

[towsonu2003]

Depressing to see that you got upmodded as informative while we all know that parody is fair use and that the ad is clearly designed not to confuse the consumer (or do you put your earplugs in your vagina?). But on the other hand, I am also wondering why Apple chose to sue *this* parody over all the others that are out there. Maybe because it depicted a woman that didn't need a man for sexual pleasure, instead of a woman as *the* sexual object of the male gaze [wikipedia.org]. I guess the corporation, as a legal person [wikipedia.org], th

Re:Let me correct the headline for you...

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

specifically designed to cause confusion in the markeplace

Confusion?

If you can't tell the difference between a sex toy & a portable music player, then.... well, let's just say I don't want to borrow your iPod.

Can you spell "commercial speech"?

[argent]

Commercial speech doesn't have the same protections as other kinds of speech. Parody isn't a "get out of jail free" card in any case, but "parodying" another company's commercial, AND for a related product, that's a guaranteed losing move.