Indian court orders Apple to stop using 'Split View' name in trademark case

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Delhi's High Court has ordered Apple to no longer use the term "Split View" in any of its products, following a trademark complaint by a software firm local to the city.




Vyooh, a Microsoft vendor, said it developed similar software in 2006, India's Economic Times reported on Friday. That program -- "SplitView" -- was designed for multitasking on a single display.

Apple can't use the same name, as its software doesn't use Vyooh's patent, lawyers for the latter company argued. Apple is already working on an appeal, and has until May 9 to file a reply.

Apple uses the term "Split View" in both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, referring to a feature that lets people run two apps side-by-side in a fullscreen mode. The iOS 9 option only works on recent iPads, like the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Pro.

Although Apple is typically able to win or settle patent and trademark disputes, a favorable resolution isn't guaranteed. In February, a $625 million judgment was issued against Apple for violating four VirnetX patents -- the company has, however, filed a motion for mistrial.
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  • Reply 1 of 32
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Oy, gevalt!
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  • Reply 2 of 32
    spaceraysspacerays Posts: 116member
    This is ridiculous
    jbdragon
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  • Reply 3 of 32
    slprescottslprescott Posts: 765member
    For the devs here:

    Swift and Objective-C have a UISplitviewController.  Would Apple have to change the name of this class too?  (It's not public-facing, so probably not.)

    https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/UIKit/Reference/UISplitViewController_class/
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 32
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    How far back does the use of "Split View" go?  They are also using it in a descriptive format AFAIK...

    Hasn't news media used that term for interviews when they have 2 camera images at the same time during interviews?
    radarthekatjbdragon
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  • Reply 5 of 32
    bwinskibwinski Posts: 164member
    Please… POUND SAND.
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  • Reply 6 of 32
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,942member
    This is no technology patent but a language description term. 3rd world companies now learning to extract money from larger USA companies by abusing trademark term from Apple's IPAD case in China.
    nolamacguyjbdragon
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  • Reply 7 of 32
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,927member
    How is someone able to trademark "Split View"?
    jbdragon
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 32
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Been using "split view" since the 1990s I guess I should retroactively ban myself ;-).
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 9 of 32
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    They can ask but won't get anywhere with the request.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 32
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,107member
    Such a backward place.   Believe it or not, India and China were about even 25 yrs ago 
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  • Reply 11 of 32
    MacPromacpro Posts: 19,861member
    Change it to Split Pea View on all versions of OS X in India maybe? ;)
    magman1979
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  • Reply 12 of 32
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    Change it to Split Pea View on all versions of OS X in India maybe? ;)
    Or "Split Vue"
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  • Reply 13 of 32
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,942member
    red oak said:
    Such a backward place.   Believe it or not, India and China were about even 25 yrs ago 
    Monkey See, Monkey Do. Chinese company got $45M for Ipad term. Now, neighbor Indian company going after Apple for such silly term. Lawyers over their in India or China have nothing to much to do and loose. Out of thousands of such cases, if one works out than that covers next 10 years of money. Soon as such case proves wrong, Apple should go after them for very high compensation for court cost to the point bankrupting such company and lawyer.
    edited April 2016
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  • Reply 14 of 32
    Split Screen, Split View, whatever. There is enough prior art in the 1970's, 80's, e.g., the IBM 3290, and even more prominently, Digital's VT100 ASCII terminal in 1983. These used escape sequences to switch split screen modes.
    Many IDEs have had Split View capability, for decades.
    So, on what planet are these people at this Indian company Vyooh living?
    jbdragon
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 15 of 32
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    jungmark said:
    How is someone able to trademark "Split View"?
    I guess the same way someone thinks they can trademark AppStore or One Click.
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  • Reply 16 of 32
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,905moderator
    jungmark said:
    How is someone able to trademark "Split View"?
    I guess the same way someone thinks they can trademark AppStore or One Click.

    Nope, not the same way at all.  If anyone can show that AppStore or One Click were previously commonly used phrases in the same context where they have been trademarked, then I, and I'm sure others here, would agree that they are undeserving of trademark protection.  That's the argument being made, and I think persuasively, regarding Split View.
    nolamacguyjbdragonjustadcomics
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  • Reply 17 of 32
    techlovertechlover Posts: 879member
    This stuff is getting out of control.

    Whats next? Suing another company over a rectangular phone with rounded corners?
    singularity
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  • Reply 18 of 32
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,329member
    techlover said:
    This stuff is getting out of control.

    Whats next? Suing another company over a rectangular phone with rounded corners?
    Contrary to what the USPTO says, designs can and have been patented. You need to get over this response whenever Apple's designs are brought up.
    icoco3jbdragon
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  • Reply 19 of 32
    croprcropr Posts: 1,143member
    jungmark said:
    How is someone able to trademark "Split View"?
    It is as easy as trademarking "App Store"
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  • Reply 20 of 32
    Apple's use of SplitView is potentially confusing: everytime Apple uses it, people will think of this Indian software company that nobody has heard about¡¡¡
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