Apple comes after Fruit Union Suisse for its official logo

It's not unusual for tech companies to trademark logos or phrases like Windows or Galaxy. But there are cases where companies file thousands of trademarks (even without needing to) to deter new competition with similar-looking logos or words used on their flagship products. Among these tech companies, Apple may be ahead of most rivals in enforcing its IP (intellectual property) over other companies. However, the iPhone maker is taking things to another level by not only registering its half-bitten apple (which it already has) but also going for the whole fruit, the apple. And he wants a fruit company to change its logo.

Apple comes after a 111-year-old organization of fruit farmers called Fruit Union Suisse after the latter's official logo. The organization uses a red apple logo with the white cross of the Swiss flag superimposed. As The Wire reported, Apple is trying to gain intellectual property rights to depictions of Apples: The Fruit and forcing Fruit Union Suisse to rethink its logo.

Regarding the proposed trademark, Fruit Union Suisse head Jimmy Mariethoz says Apple's trademark claim has nothing to do with its half-bitten apple. And he adds: "Their objective here is really to own the rights to an actual apple, which, for us, is something that is really almost universal... that should be free for everyone to use."

Mariethoz further cautions that Apple has been "very aggressive in pursuing things that it perceives as infringements on its trademarks," adding that the organization does not want to "compete" with the tech giant. However, Fruit Union Suisse remains hopeful, as the organization has existed for over 100 years. A Swiss court decision could take months, possibly years.

This isn't the first time Apple has gone after a company for using a fruit logo. In 2020, Prepear, a food prep startup, fell under Apple's radar for its pear-like logo. Apple argued that Prepear's pear logo resembles the iPhone maker's half-bitten apple logo. Finally, the startup had to modify the logo slightly. The Wired, citing records from the World Intellectual Property Organization, claims that Apple has gone after various startups worldwide for their fruit logos.

The tech giant also tried to obtain a trademark in Switzerland in 2017. According to the application filed with the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI), Apple wanted to get intellectual property rights for a black-and-white representation of a type of apple called Granny Smith (green apple). IPI eventually granted Apple partial rights.