The Apple Tablet PC – iSlate or iPad?
The Apple Tablet: iSlate, iGuide, iPad Or iElse?
Will Apple’s tablet PC actually be called the iPad? We won’t know until tomorrow, but after evidence was discovered that Apple was interested in the name “iSlate”, many have figured that as this is the most likely name for Apple’s new device. iSlate.com was registered in late 2006 and trademarks had been filed for ‘ISLATE’ in both the United States and Europe by a company that was most likely a dummy corporation set up by Apple. A filing for a US trademark for ‘IGUIDE’ by another Delaware-registered company called iGuide Media LLC, which can be linked to Cupertino by means of signatures on the documents coming from Apple’s Senior Trademark Specialist, Regina Porter.
New evidence however has revealed that Apple may, in fact, be positioning “iPad” as the name for the new tablet PC device. A search in the Canadian trademark database reveals that Apple’s dummy corporation Slate Computing, LLC also applied for a trademark for “iPad” under the categories of handheld mobile digital electronic devices with a broad range of applications. This application was filed in July 2009 — much more recently than the original iSlate trademarks which date back to 2006-2007. Slate Computing, LLC did not apply for a similar trademark in the U.S. due to the fact that Fujitsu appears to control the U.S. trademark as it relates to handheld computing. But, this didn’t stop Apple from using the iPhone name despite it being owned by Cisco in the U.S. at the time of the iPhone’s launch.
Very similar trademark applications for “iPad” were also filed in Europe and Hong Kong in July. The European filing listed a UK law firm while the Hong Kong application listed a company called IP Application Development, LLC which is located in Delaware.
iGuide could be another name candidate for an Apple tablet, but this is the least likely name. Two trademarks were filed for ‘IGUIDE’ by iGuide Media LLC (through a James Johnston) in the United States: a principal and a service mark, both on 18 December 2007. The description of goods and services given to iGuide Media is very similar to the one given to Slate Computing, the supposed shell company set up by Apple used to register the trademark for ‘ISLATE’, although it leans a bit more to a focus on software and services than hardware.
On the exact same day, iGuide Media LLC filed for a trademark in Europe as well: search OHIM for ‘iguide’ and you find a trademark filing that has all the Apple marks on it: the legal representative is ‘EDWARDS ANGELL PALMER & DODGE UK LLP’ (the same as for ‘ISLATE’ and ‘MACBOOK’, among others), and the priority country is Trinidad & Tobago, the same as when Apple filed for the ‘iphone’ trademark in Europe.
So what will it be? iSlate, iGuide, iPad Or iElse? Find out tomorrow.
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