Is 'WePad' name a trademark infringement?

[awmazz]

How close can you go to the iPad name and get away with it? YouPad? OurPad? MyPad? Or is 'Pad' just too generic to trademark?

http://wepad.mobi/en

Reminds me very much of the success of the Apple II and all the other manufacturers coming out with their own versions with fruit and veggie names like Acorn or Peach. I think there was even a Lemon too, of all things to name a product.

And then you get into the 'iPad killer' meme, like this article:

http://hothardware.com/News/Neofonie-WePad-Is-An-116-AndroidBased-iPad-Killer/

Strikes me that naming your product after your competition's isn't really the best way to start to go about beating your competition.

Anyway, looking at the interface on this WePad, and how much it reminds me of the contrast between Windows 95 and Mac System 9, I imagine the majority of people will opt for the cheaper (free) ugly interface on cheap hardware and it will dominate market share and the dawn of a new two platform battle/age of iPhone OS vs Android replacing the older Mac vs Windows one, so it's deja vu all over again for the next twenty years. Microsoft looks like it's really missed the early boat this time around so can they ever be a major player like they were before?

 

[maflynn]

Instead of asking a bunch of strangers in an internet forum, why not get actual legal advice from a lawyer. You'll be better off, especially if you hear one thing from here and then get sued.

 

[cmaier]

Would a consumer likely be confused as to the origin of a wepad and think it was an Apple product?

If not, it's not likely to be trademark infringement. Of course, there's a whole complicated analysis to determine the "likelihood of confusion."

 

[hakuryuu]

As far as that device is concerned specifically, I don't see it being a threat. Lots of people are announcing lots of devices that are supposed to be better. Hell.. Look at the iPod and iPhone. No single device can compete. But I do expect Android devices as a whole to beat out Apple or at least equal them over time. It is hard to beat cheaper and almost as good/better at some stuff.

 

[cmaier]

It is hard to beat cheaper and almost as good/better at some stuff.

Tell that to Hydrox.

 

[snberk103]

It's not whether you "can" .... it's whether you can afford to pay the legal fees to defend your position should someone else think differently than you. Unless you can prove the other side sued you with premeditated malice, I don't think you get to claim your legal fees back if you win.

 

[awmazz]

You'll be better off, especially if you hear one thing from here and then get sued.

No legal skin off my nose if anyone sues anyone else. Just curious and starting a topic of conversation. I'm sure this WePad will be just the first of many coming out of the woodwork and trying to ride on the name/brand to boost their own products. How any are going to have -Pad on the end of their name?

Apple seems to have held onto -Pod quite well, so maybe this WePad will see a change of name shortly.

It would have been good in my opinion to see them do instead what Mototrola did and use an and- or an -oid name to differentate their product being based on Android instead of trying to cash in on the iPad. It seems they want their customers to think they're buying an iPad variant (ie, as good as, with differences) instead of an Android variant. Which is the inference I get from their blurb which is basically "the iPad, unlocked":

Together We will be free to achieve more

Some people seem to think life is all about the I, and the Me, Me, Me.

We beg to differ. To us, the power of many beats the power of one. That’s why we came up with the WePad: It’s the smarter solution for enjoying the Internet your way. Why? Because when you’re locked in, you get the Internet their way. It’s the opposite of free. Being told what you can see, what you can buy, and all the things you can not do – somehow, that just seems so 1984.​

 

[awmazz]

Would a consumer likely be confused as to the origin of a wepad and think it was an Apple product?

That's a good point. Is a 'We' maybe a top of the line version of a basic 'I' model, one that your whole family can use instead of just one person? Like a group licence instead of a single. Or a YouPad, inferring it's everything you can get with an iPad but more personally configured just for you instead of a generic out of the box unit. Bsically just different variations of the same product.

Then again, is Pad now already only after four weeks the common name everyone will use for this new form of computing, superseding Tablet..

 

[cmaier]

That's a good point. Is a 'We' maybe a top of the line version of a basic 'I' model, one that your whole family can use instead of just one person? Like a group licence instead of a single. Or a YouPad, inferring it's everything you can get with an iPad but more personally configured just for you instead of a generic out of the box unit. Bsically just different variations of the same product.

Then again, is Pad now already only after four weeks the common name everyone will use for this new form of computing, superseding Tablet..

"Pad" is not entitled to a trademark as it is "merely descriptive." The issue is the entire word "wepad" vs "ipad." Personally, I think there's no trademark issue, but of course that should not be taken as legal advice - it's just a guess since the words don't sound alike and since "we" is not associated with Apple.

 

[AppleFan1984]

I'm still laughing over how Micro$oft reponded to Apple's "Aqua" UI with one of their own that looked a lot like it called "Glass". They copy, and they still never get it right, like a cargo cult of OS design.

 

[awmazz]

So they've now changed the name to WeTab - http://wetab.mobi/en

I think this better differentiates their product from the iPad for their own benefit.

I guess the lines are slowly becoming drawn now, Pad vs Tab is the new Mac vs PC of iPhoneOS vs Android. Maybe HP will stay with the name Slate for their newly acquired third OS.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the widescreen dimensions prove popular. May actually be a big drawback. I notice they dont have any shots of it in use in portrait mode at all. All landscape. It doesn't actually look like they intend it to be used as a book reader etc.

 

[TenaGay]

I can choose one of them.
Thanks