Wisdom, Smarts, and Apple’s Lack of One of Them
Last week I thought it was only a joke when I read a blog post saying that the NFL might forbid people having “Super Bowl parties” because of trademark infringement.
But now this, from the Des Moines Register .
Apple wants the Lift, a Des Moines downtown bar, to stop using the name “iPod Monday” to describe a weekly event in which patrons share their musical tastes via their iPods.“Please choose a name for your product that is consistent with Apple’s guidelines (that does not include iPod or any other Apple trademark or variation thereon),” reads a letter from Apple representative Pete Alcorn to Curtis. The e-mail refers to the event’s Web site, ipodmonday.com, and related podcasts and online broadcasts.
My first tempation: to say “Gee, do I need to comment on how stupid this is?”
But on second thought, it’s a perfect follow-on to my last post.
Apple is a very smart company. As Paul Graham points out, though, smart is not wise. This isn’t stupid, it’s just far from wise.
Smart says: if someone uses our trademark, we go after them.
Wise says: we do what’s in our interest. What’s in our interest is to encourage people to spread our trademark for us.
Wise, had it been present at Apple, would also have said, “It’s not in our interest to be perceived as badly as this will cause us to be.”
P.S. Legal departments in big companies are there to keep other departments from making very costly mistakes. But who’s watching over the legals?