Apple accused of stealing logo; could cough up $200K fine to startup

Apple at the WWDC2018 had announced a plethora of new apps and two new operating system versions. While most of the announcements were based on new apps and features, one app took a major highlight, and for a controversy. Amongst the series of new apps and features, Apple announced a new app called Siri Shortcuts, which allows the user to create a series of commands for controlling other apps.

A few days after Apple announced the new app at the WWDC 2018 Keynote, Apple was sued by a blockchain startup over copying their logo. Surprisingly, the logo of the startup, called Shift, also has a similar looking shape, which resembles Shortcuts. The startup has now sent a letter to Apple demanding a compensation amounting to $200,000. The company demands that either Apple redesigns the app’s logo or pays up the compensation.

Shift’s lawyer sent a letter to Apple mentioning that their logo cost them a designing fee and Apple blatantly copied it, demanding the compensation of $200,000. Additionally, the lawyer also mentioned in the letter that the Apple logo will now cause confusion in the marketplace, affecting the sales for the startup’s app.

In a response to The Sun, Shift said that they are not having any pleasure in going after Apple and also said that Apple can keep the logo if they wish, but has to compensate them for redesigning a new logo for themselves.

Apple has not yet commented on this issue.

Apple has not been accused for the first time. In the past, they were sued by many companies over copyrights.