CREDIT: Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist Chris Boag with the Victoria School of Business and Technology logo.
A Saanich computer school is playing David to computer goliath Apple Inc. in a battle over its logo.
Apple's lawyers have warned the Victoria School of Business and Technology that its logo, which features the outline of an apple with a leaf on top, infringes on the computer giant's trademarked Apple symbol.
The Vernon Avenue firm started using its logo in early 2005. Apple's logo was launched more than 30 years ago.
A lawyer's letter from Apple said the Saanich company's logo infringes on Apple's rights and is "falsely suggesting that Apple has authorized your activities," which include offering computer software operation courses.
If the school does not change its logo, Apple might start legal proceedings to prohibit the school from using the symbol and to recover damages and legal costs, the letter said.
Dieter Gerhard, president and CEO of the school, said the logo differs in several significant ways, including the fact that the acronym "VSBT" is part of the design.
The school's logo incorporates a mountain graphic from its sister company, northStudio.com, a computer consulting company owned by Gerhard and Chris Boag, also a vice-president of the school. Boag and Gerhard are two of seven shareholders in the school, which has satellite operations in Vancouver and Dalhousie, N.B.
The school apple has three bumps on top while Apple's design has two, and is multi-coloured while Apple's is not, Boag said yesterday.
An apple symbolizes education, he said, adding that the school uses about 50 Apple computers as well as PCs.
"We believe we are ethically and morally in the right," Boag said. "We're basically standing our ground right now, as we do feel like the little guy who is being bullied to some degree by Apple."
There have been more than 1,000 responses to a poll on the school website that asks, "Do you agree with Apple that people would confuse the VSBT logo with the Apple logo?" Results are running about three to one in favour of the Saanich firm.
The contretemps is the latest in a series of disputes about names and logos in B.C.
Last year, Victoria's Phillips Brewing unveiled Blue Buck Ale - a name change from Blue Truck after the Red Truck Beer Company of North Vancouver threatened legal action.
Downtown Victoria's Temple Restaurant and Lounge dropped a lager beer and bottle called Stubby in 2005 because it couldn't afford a legal fight with big brewer Molson.
In 2004, the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee demanded that city's Olympic Pizza restaurant remove Olympic rings and torches from its signs.
And a 2003 disagreement saw coffee giant Starbucks back off a trademark-infringement suit against HaidaBucks, a small cafe in the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Apple has copyrighted the "apple"??? Well they better not take a trip through Keremeos!
BTW, I'm thinking of a name change in advanced of the Vancouver Olympics. I'm going to apply to be legally recognized as "Olympic 2010 Rings".
Another thought, with VANOC acquiring a copyright on "With Glowing Hearts", does that mean we'll have to pay a royalty every time we sing the national anthem...or maybe just hum through that line in the song and keep the VANOC police at bay.
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