First reported by la Repubblica Napoli, bothers and business partners Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato have officially won a years-long legal battle against Apple that will allow them to continue to call their clothing company "Steve Jobs" after Apple's beloved founder.
According to Chaim Gartenberg over at the Verge, the fight between Apple and the Barbatos began all the way back in 2012 after they noticed that Apple did not have any sort of trademark on Jobs' name:
The pair were already in the process of starting their own clothing and accessory company, after spending years creating products for other brands, and decided that "Steve Jobs" would be the perfect name for their new brand.
Since then, Steve Jobs the company has been duking it out in court with Apple over use of both the name and the clothing company's logo — a letter J with a semicircular bite taken out of it and a very Apple-y leaf serving as the dot on top. However, while all of the brothers' branding is clearly inspired by Apple iconography, it was deemed perfectly legal to use by European courts. Gartenberg notes that la Repubblica Napoli speculated it may be because of the logo that Apple lost the case:
Apple, as one can expect, sued the brothers over the trademark. But according to la Repubblica Napoli, the tech giant may have lost in court by attacking the brothers specifically over their Steve Jobs logo … the court ruled that the letter "J" isn't edible and therefore the bite could not be ripping off Apple's own iconic logo, and upheld the brother's trademark.
To add to the absurdity, the brothers Barbato claimed in an interview with Business Insider Italia that their ultimate goal is to begin developing tech products sometime in the future (though they neglected to disclose any specific plans). Gartenberg mentions that if the Barbatos are successful in this, "there could very well be a Steve Jobs phone competing in stores right next to Jobs' own iPhone." Until that day comes, however, the brothers will be sticking to crafting their line of bags, shirts, and other clothing and accessories.
Now, who needs some Steve Jobs jeans to perfect their New Year's Eve ensemble?
Thoughts?
How do you feel knowing that there's a non-Apple entity called Steve Jobs? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
