Brothers Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato were in the process of launching their clothing and accessory brand in Italy when they discovered that Apple had never trademarked the name of its co-founder and ex-CEO Steve Jobs. So in 2012 they decided to call their clothing company Steve Jobs. A lawsuit from Apple predictably came calling but after a multi-year legal battle, they’ve won the right to call their company Steve Jobs.
Apple sued the brothers over the trademark but it eventually lost in court because it went after their brand’s logo which is a stylized letter “J” that has a bite taken out of it much like the Apple logo. There’s even an Apple-style leaf at the top of their logo.
The court ruled in their favor and said that since the letter “J” is not edible, a bite taken out of the side cannot be constituted as ripping off Apple’s trademarked logo. The court upheld the brothers’ trademark.
The legal battle actually ended in 2014 but the brothers were unable to discuss the case until now as their claim on the brand wasn’t settled until this year.
The Steve Jobs clothing brand currently sells t-shirts, jeans, bags, and other fashion items. However, the brothers tell Business Insider Italia that their future plans include producing and selling electronic devices under the Steve Jobs brand.
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