New York publisher John T. Colby filed a lawsuit against Apple in the Manhattan U.S. District Court on Thursday for trademark infringement over its use of the term "iBooks."
According to a Bloomberg report, Colby acquired publisher Byron Preiss in 2006 and 2007. Preiss started using the name "ibooks" in September 1999 and had published more than 1,000 paperback and hardcover titles under the brand since then, the lawsuit claims.
AppleInsider searched the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and was unable to find Colby's alleged trademarks, but found three owned by Apple. The first, originally filed in October 1996, applies to hardware and software "used to support and create user-modifiable electronic books." The next Apple-owned iBook trademark was filed in November 1998 and covers computers and computer hardware. Apple used to sell a laptop dubbed the iBook, but this product was replaced by the MacBook in 2006.
Apple filed a third iBook trademark in April 2010. AppleInsider says it "encompasses a wide range of goods and services related to the iBookstore."
However, Colby contends that Apple's use of the term will cause the publisher to suffer.
"Apple's use of the mark 'iBooks' to denote the electronic library that can be accessed via its iPad tablet computer and its iPhone is likely to overwhelm the good will of the plaintiffs' 'ibooks' and 'ipicturebooks' marks and render them virtually worthless," the lawsuit reads.
It's certainly not the first time a company has taken issue with one of Apple's brand names. Last week, Apple was sued by iCloud Communications for its recently announced iCloud. The Arizona-based storage company argues that Apple iCloud offers nearly the same service under the same name which could cause confusion for consumers, negatively affecting iCloud Communications' business.
Apple was also sued by Cisco in 2007 for the name "iPhone;" in 2009 by Fujitsu for "iPad;" and in 2010 by Innovative Media Group for "iAds."