Apple isn’t only battling Qualcomm in the courtroom these days, but also Xiaomi. The Cupertino firm recently won an EU trademark case against the maker of MIUI. Let’s find out why.
It seems that Apple was against Xiaomi registering the “Mi Pad” name as an EU trademark, as the name was considered too similar to the Apple “iPad”. The legal battle was fought in Europe and it was decided by the EU’s second highest court, the General Court.
It ruled that the Mi Pad shouldn’t be registered as a trademark, as consumers could confuse it with the iPad, especially since the designs of the products are also quite similar. Aside from that, the actual product name is very similar, with just the letter “m” separating the Mi Pad from an iPad.
Phonetically they also sound the same. Xiaomi filed an application back in 2014 with the EU Intellectual Property Office, in order to register Mi Pad as an EU trademark. Apple then made a complaint with the EUIPO in 2016, claiming that the Mi Pad name was a riff on the iPad trademark.
Of course Xiaomi can appeal the decision. We’re also not sure if they will continue the Mi Pad lineup, so they may not care that much. However with the recent expansion to Europe, particularly Spain, this may prove to be a bit of a headache.
