On August 8th, 2005, I blogged the following, which I’m updating tonight:
Travis brings our attention to a new Apple product called the Mighty Mouse. (Sorry, but I’ve been a PC person since the beginning. I am sure this is old news to the creative types.)
Mighty Mouse? Ah — don’t even ask. They’ve licensed the name from Viacom!
UPDATE: Not so fast, Mr. Jobs!
We brought you the news of the lawsuit, way back in spring 2008, and can now reveal the verdict. Apple has lost the right to call its own-brand Mac mouse the “Mighty Mouse”.
Man & Machine, American medical hardware specialist suppliers, has now been granted the trademark on “Mighty Mouse” from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In the lawsuit, Man & Machine says Apple began selling its Mighty Mouse over 1 year after it began selling waterproof and chemical resistant mice under the same name in 2004.
Not real waterproof mice, mind you — for the rodents are pretty darned water-resistant out of the box — but “mouse devices,” or, if you will, mouses. And, yes, Apple lost.
Yep: Looks like Man & Machine moved Apple’s cheese!
Don’t mess with Mighty Mouse. I have a client who filed a TM for a computer mouse with something remotely similar to it in name, and sure enough, CBS lawyers made contact! They’re serious about protecting the Mighty Mouse name!