Apple has been granted a trademark for
the distinctive design of their chain of
retail stores. Although the claim was
rejected twice in the past, Apple
managed to successfully convince the US
Patent and Trademark office the third
time with a lengthy, 122-page document
detailing the reasons.
The trademark includes use of items such
as a paneled facade of glass, recessed
lighting units and lined rectangular tables,
but as usual, the trademark is for the sum
of parts rather than any individual item.
While it’s easy to look at this and scoff,
it’s fairly common practice for companies
to get a trademark on a distinctive design
that they have come up with, with
examples such as the shape of the Coca-
Cola bottle or the Swiss Federal Railways
watch face that Apple was recently found
using in iOS. A trademark by definition is
a ‘recognizable sign, design or expression
which identifies products or services of a
particular source from those of others’
and differs from a patent. But while other
store designers can still use individual
elements of Apple’s store (as many do), if
the final result ends up looking exactly
like an Apple Store, they better lawyer
up.
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