It’s Apple vs. Startup in Faceoff Over Who Can Use Fruit Logos

Apple Inc. says even if consumers recognize the difference between an apple and a pear, in trademark law they’re not apples and oranges. And it could cost a five-person startup tens of thousands of dollars to fight that logic.

Apple is opposing federal registration of food prep app Prepear’s logo as a trademark, arguing the green pear-with-leaf logo “readily calls to mind” its iconic bite-out-of-an-apple logo.

Allowing Prepear’s registration would confuse consumers and cause “dilution by blurring"—basically make Apple’s trademark less distinctive—the tech giant says in its filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. But Super Healthy Kids Inc., ...