iPad name belongs to us, claims Apple rival

IT WAS the most eagerly awaited product launch in years. But although Apple's scientists had been working away at their latest technological masterpiece for some considerable time, so tight was the secrecy that no-one even knew what it was to be called. Was it the iSlate, the iTablet…?

• The Apple iPad, unveiled last week

Then, last week, chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the machine with which Apple aims to again dominate the world – the iPad.

But it appears Apple's ambitious plans have hit an early snag. Rival Fujitsu says it already owns that name and is threatening legal action to keep it. The Japanese company claims to have applied for an iPad trademark in 2003 and is now ready to contest this right.

However, while Apple's iPad is a personal computer designed for web browsing, document reading and word processing on the move, Fujitsu's device, sold mainly in the US, helps sales staff verify prices, check inventory and close sales.

"It's our understanding that the name is ours," said Masahiro Yamane, director of Fujitsu's public relations division. He added that Fujitsu was aware of Apple's plans to sell the iPad tablet and was consulting lawyers over its next step.

Fujitsu's iPad, which runs on Apple arch-rival Microsoft's operating system, has a 3.5in colour touchscreen, an Intel processor and wi-fi and Bluetooth connections; it also provides telephone calls over the internet. "Mobile is a keyword for Fujitsu's iPad too," Yamane said. "With the iPad, workers don't have to keep

running back to a computer. They have everything right at their fingertips."

There is also a marked difference in price: Fujitsu iPads can sell for more than 1,250, compared with 311 for an entry-model iPad from Apple.

Fujitsu's application to trademark the iPad name stalled because of an earlier filing of the name by Mag-Tech, an information technology security company based in California, for a handheld number-encrypting device. The US Patent and Trademark Office listed Fujitsu's application as abandoned in early 2009, but it revived its application in June.

The following month, Apple applied for a trademark for the iPad. Apple now has until 28 February to say if it will challenge Fujitsu.

There are other iPads around the world. German firm Siemens uses the name for engines, while Canadian lingerie firm Coconut Grove Pads, has the right to market iPad padded bras. Apple faced a similar spat three years ago with Cisco Systems over the iPhone name. The two firms came to a deal.