Apple Files Trademark for "Startup"

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Apple surely has a way of wanting desirable generic words for their own. The company has recently applied to trademark the word “startup.”

The term “startup” will usually refer to a lot of things. In the tech sense of the word, companies just setting up and launching are often called startups. Apple, however, wants to claim dibs on the word, and has applied with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a trademark on “Startup.”

The said trademark is said to refer to how retail stores will demonstrate, unbox and setup gadgets at point of purchase. Say, you want to buy a MacBook from an Apple Store, sales staff will do what they will call a “startup.” Specifically, startup refers to “[r]etail store services featuring computers, computer software, computer peripherals, mobile phones, and consumer electronic devices, and demonstration of products relating thereto.”

Of course, Apple has a tendency to want to own generic trademarks, or at least trademarks that seem generic. Remember the issue with “App Store”? But it’s not just Apple. Even Microsoft has trademarked Windows. If Apple does get their Startup trademark, then business incubators and investors are likely to shy away from the term “startup” when financing new companies.