Palm legal puts kibosh on webOS theme for Android
If you’re a user of that other Linux-based smartphone operating system, then I hope you weren’t planning on making it look all webOSy. As it turns out, Palm’s legal team has taken an unkind view of the “Palm Pre Android Theme” and sent what amounts to a cease-and-desist letter to the developer. The primary objection is from the copyright standpoint, as Palm has trademarked both the images and the general user interface of webOS.
"While Palm appreciates that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, we are concerned that the use of the name “Palm Pre Android Theme” for your product is likely to cause people to erroneously assume that your application is sponsored, authorized or has been approved by Palm, or that you have, or your company has, a relationship with Palm. Creation of such consumer confusion would constitute an infringement of Palm’s well-established trademark rights."
The webOS theme for Android phones was offered free-of-charge on the Android Market. Palm’s letter cites a puzzling “potential for consumer confusion,” as if the users of the webOS theme will tout that their Android-powered device is indeed a Palm phone. Such a claim is, in this blogger’s unlawyerly opinion, utter hogwash, as it is dependent upon a user downloading and installing the theme from the Android Market (having already bought an Android phone) and then for whatever reason passing it off as actually being a Palm device.
Not so hogwash: Palm making the claim based on trademark. As followers of such theme-smackdown-hijinks of the past may know, a company has to take steps to defend their trademark rights or they risk losing them. A charitable reading of Palm's letter would mean that Palm isn't looking to squash the little guy, they're looking to ensure they maintain their trademark rights if they need them later to fight bigger guys.
Palm has also targeted the BlackBerry theme with a takedown notice, though it does not appear that the same has been done for the iPhone. It’s likely that due to the non-sanctionable status of the iPhone theme (i.e. the iPhone must be jailbroken for any themes to be installed), Palm is not overly worried about the iPhone theme. There was also TealOS for PalmOS users, by the way.
In the end we hope that all of these themes can be re-released in a form that doesn't infringe on Palm's trademarks yet is still 'inspired' by the webOS. Because, as Palm noted, imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.
[via: Engadget]
Bono – BlackBerry man, Palm investor
Sir Bono of Dublin draws a striking contrast in his choices in the mobile arena. First up is Bono, a founding partner of investment firm Elevation Partners, which has sunk more than $400 million (20% of Elevation’s $1.9 billion portfolio) into resurgent handset maker Palm, Inc. And then there’s Bono, the lead singer of record Grammy-winning rock band U2, which is currently performing all across Europe as part of their 360° tour, which is heavily sponsored by Research in Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry line of smartphones. And let’s not forget, Bono pushed Apple gear - remember the red and black U2 edition iPods? - before hooking up with RIM.
As Dan Primack of peHUB Wire opined, “[Bono] might as well take out a fullpage ad in USA Today, saying: ‘If you’re going to switch to a smart phone, don’t bother with the Palm Pre’.” But we have to look at this from the point of view of the two Bonos. While they may be the same person, they’re involved in two very different businesses. U2 Bono is concerned about promoting his concert tour and albums, and RIM’s deep pockets and BlackBerry recognition make them an easy choice. Elevation Partners Bono, on the other hand, is concerned with return for his investment. And in that arena, Palm is definitely the place to be: over the past year Palm shares has been up nearly 170% and RIM is down about 35% (after bottoming at almost 70% loss).
Deep down, we secretly hope that Bono is investing some of those easy BlackBerry sponsorship dollars into Elevation, who in turn could reinvest them in Palm (though yeah, we know, Palm may not need any more cash from Elevation). Because then RIM would be investing in the future of smartphones ....at Palm.
Thanks to Rasen for the tip!
