

Poll created October 01, 2008
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Read the Apple Legal Letter
Read VSBT's Response
Read Victoria News article
The Most Read News Story Across BC
Listen CBC Radio One interview (mp3)
Listen Jian Ghomeshi's CBC Radio interview (mp3)
Read the Globe and Mail Editorial

Listen to CFAX radio interview
- Victoria News breaks the story September 30, 2008
- Public sentiment on school's side in dispute with Apple October 14, 2008

CTV National News (CTV incorrectly identifies Chris Boag as Dieter Gerhard)

"Comparing Apples and Oranges"
Lawyers for Apple Inc. have sent a letter to the Victoria School of Business and Technology claiming our logo is confusingly similar to theirs.
We strongly disagree and say so in our reply letter. We are defensive regarding this issue primarily because it was what we thought to be an original idea which flowed from a process - see below - where the comparison never even came up. Whether that was a good process or not it speaks to our intention which was definitely not an Apple Inc. association. Whether you agree with Apple, or say no you don't agree we invite you to vote, and/or post your comments. We don't have their deep pockets for a legal fight so we thought we would let the public bear witness and see if Apple might learn to play nice ... not that we are naive, but hey, they may surprise us :-)
• Cast your vote
• Got an opinion? Post your Comments - The Rules: Keep it clean, NO PERSONAL ATTACKS on Apple, VSBt or anyone else please, and stay on the subject without writing a "thesis" or your comment may flagged for removal
Related Resources
- Apple sues NYC
- NY times article
- Apple thinks Cisco lawsuit is just silly
- Apple logo design
- Wired's take on the logo
- Beatles sue Apple Computers over logo
- The history of the Apple logo
- Apple legal stuff - Note section 3 under "Unauthorized Use of Apple Trademarks"
- Contact Apple directly
- Pink Floyd video of Apples and Oranges (just for fun, not related to issue)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apples_and_oranges
"Apples and oranges" refers to the idiom "comparing apples and oranges" or "apples to oranges", which is used to indicate that two items or groups of items have not been validly compared.
Googling variations of “school education logo apple” we found many schools using the iconic education apple. Some are shown and listed below. According to Apple’s trademark these would also be in violation of their trademark even though many look completely dissimilar. Food for thought.
Logo Design and Thought Process: In 2001 we founded a web design company called northStudio.com also offerring web and print design training. The northStudio logo represents the green hills and snow-capped mountains of BC with a clear blue sky above. By 2005 the school
matured in to a separate business concern, the Victoria School of Business and Technology. In doing so we wanted the school to have a recognizeable assocation with northStudio. A clear example of this intention is how both web sites, while residing on different domains, seamlessly flow into one another. The challenge for us was how to make the new logo recognizeable as a northStudio brand yet convey that it was education. We thought then and continue to do so now that an apple was about as iconic a representation of education as it gets. So while morphing the northStudio logo into an apple may not have resulted in the so-called best designed and/or original piece of design work we thought it had clearly scored on the two objectives set out. That, and that alone was the design process and it was in no way inspired by anything to do with Apple.
To further place this in context we launched VSBT and the logo in 2005 with brand new PCs. Macs were first introduced in to VSBT classrooms nearly 3 years later in late 2007. Even now a significant number of PC users bring their own laptops and don't use the Macs. We are an Adobe Authorized Training Centre - the only one in Victoria and on Vancouver Island for that matter. Having our training up to Adobe standards is certainly of importance to us. Adobe and Apple are not related to each other. Trying to captialize on any association with Apple isn't of any beneifit to our programs or our enrollment. We felt the iMacs were a better computer for the Adobe programs we run. An added benefit is that they take up a smaller footprint at the student stations having no tower to bump in to with ones feet. That's how we came to associate ourselves with Apple products.
While we are sure many VSBT students are impressed by the iMacs we would be surprised to hear that any of our students past or present based their enrollement in our school even partially on a perception fostered by our logo that we were associated with and/or endorsed by Apple Computers. If that's you please post it here with your name and class semester and year for all of us to see. If that turns out to be the case we would consider that valuable and significant information to be factored in to any future decisions concerning our logo.
WE ARE LISTENING TO YOUR FEEDBACK
Monday, October 6, 2008: Many comments have suggested we change our leaf to slant in the other direction. On 10/02/2008 we we posted an image of our logo's leaf slanted to the left asking our readers what they thought. Many readers were on the fence because our leaf slants the same way Apple's does. We have not yet heard from Apple in response to this, however, we are open to changing our logo to the "left slanting" leaf as shown here.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008: Several comments have raised a concern about the way our frosted windows look without the colour as seen on our home page. We published a photo-shopped version stating that VSBT is NOT affiliated with Apple, but then reposnses came back saying that would be admitting we agree there is a confusion. We don't agree so we'll scrap that idea.
Some readers are confusing Adobe (for which we are an authorized training centre and have posted on our windows) and Apple which is contesting our logo. Adobe and Apple have nothing to do with one another.
Post your Comments below - The Rules: Keep it clean, NO PERSONAL ATTACKS on Apple, VSBT or anyone else please, and stay on the subject without writing a "thesis" or your comment may flagged for removal







Comments
i hope apple doesn't sue
Ask Apple Computer why there
Another illustration of why
To Sun, 11/09/2008 - 12:52 -
Another issue that justifies
To the poster who wrote: "My
Victoria School should
IMHO. Am guessing that the
Uh-oh... My employer will be
Take a BITE out of those
I voted for Apple. It is
So by now, I assume you have
In order to confuse this
Just turn the leaf of your
Apple has to defend its
I really do not understand
Apple stole the logo from
i dont think anyone can
There is far more similarity
Apple is way too litigious.
Why the bee in Apple Inc.'s
I've been a 20+ year Mac
Absolute garbage, you cannot
I voted no as well, it is
I hope another technology
I thought trademarks only
Apple Inc must have its team
I do not think the main,
Apple better start sending
Apple doesn't have much of a
Ridiculous I've been an
The apples are completely
Obviously this is
I voted for Apple. Of all
I voted against Apple by
I voted for Apple. You
If VSBT was trying to
I voted for Apple. To
The Macintosh 128K computer
Here's what I think, in all
I've had a good look at your
as a kid i think it is
they will always be
Apple has enough money why
They are totally different,
Heard the Vancouver "Get
I think your logo, if it
The only similarity is the
hi chirs, i just was
Apple Computer Inc has been
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