Comment Re:pre-emptive lawsuit (Score 3, Informative) 1075
TigerDirect.com does not own a trademark on the word tiger. A 30 second search at USPTO yields that Tiger Direct, Inc. owns seven trademarks:
Furthmore, you're stretching the meaning of the phrase "many years". The above trademarks were all registered between November, 2001 and April 2004. They've also abandoned two other trademarks which are now dead. To be fair, they claim to have used some of their trademarks without registering them since January 31, 1993.Lastly, Tiger Direct, Inc. is a reseller. Apple, Inc. is a manufacturer. Tiger Direct's trademarks are in the Goods and Services catagory "Mail order services featuring computer hardware and software." On the other hand, Apple, Inc. registered a trademark on the word Tiger which was registered on July 2, 2003 and in the Goods and Services catagory "computer operating system software".
While Apple may settle, this is not a case with merits. Instead, Tiger Direct, Inc. appears to be gaming the legal system to get free advertising.
(The links to the USPTO site in this post may expire without warning, though they should not be difficult to reproduce.)