Apple Denied Trademark Protection for iPad Mini Name

Apple's effort to trademark the term "iPad Mini" has been denied by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which argued the term "mini" is "merely descriptive" of goods or services sold in miniature form, a report by CNET says.

In a letter sent to Apple in January, but only recently publicly released, the USPTO reviewer who turned down Apple's application determined "the applied-for mark merely describes a feature or characteristic of applicant's goods."

Apple filed a trademark application late last year for a "handheld mobile digital electronic device comprising a tablet computer, electronic book and periodical reader, digital audio and video player, camera, electronic personal organizer, personal digital assistant, electronic calendar, and mapping and global positioning system (GPS) device, and capable of providing access to the Internet and sending, receiving, and storing messages and other data."

Apple can appeal the decision, but in order to win the appeal the company will need to address the office's reasons for denial.

The USPYO official asserted "iPad" is descriptive of the products services, and that the "i" in the name denotes Internet-related services, while "mini" describes the product as a specifically smaller version of similar products. Marks that combine descriptive terms that retain their descriptive meaning in relation to goods or services are composite marks that are not able to be registered, the letter says.

"In this case, both the individual components and the composite result are descriptive of applicant's goods and do not create a unique, incongruous, or non-descriptive meaning in relation to the goods being small handheld mobile devices comprising tablet computers capable of providing Internet access," the office said.

The reviewer cited examples from the Internet that suggested use of the term "mini" to describe the small-sized versions of handheld digital devices is widespread in the tech industry. Therefore, the office reasoned, the wording, merely describes a feature of applicant's goods --- a smaller version of a tablet computer, in Apple's case.