May 14, 2005
Apple Wins Initial Court Ruling vs. Tiger Direct
Tiger Direct was denied a preliminary injunction against sales of the Tiger operating system because of what the retailer believes was trademark infringement. The judge rightly decided Apple would be much more negatively impacted than any potential harm to TigerDirect from Apple's use of the "Tiger" name. According to court documents, Apple said it spent over $50 million in the past year in a carefully planned marketing campaign to support the launch of Mac Tiger OS X 10.4.The ruling was part of a 56 page opinion handed down on May 11th by Judge Joan Lenard of the United States District Court for the District of Florida. After weighing arguments from both sides, the Court found that "there is greater risk of damage to Apple from granting the injunction than any potential harm to TigerDirect from Apple's use of Tiger marks."
