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Consumer electronics giant Apple is putting legal pressure on the organisers of the appleexpo trade show, due to take place at Earl’s Court in May 2012.
The event is based on the Apple ecosystem, though the firm has made it clear it does not endorse it.
Organiser Indigo Media is expecting over 30,000 professional, business and consumer Apple users to attend over the three days. 150 exhibitors are also expected, selling all types of software, accessories and services for Macs, iPads, iPhones, and iPods.
Apple is now putting legal pressure on Indigo Media regarding the name of the event.
“As soon as we announced this, we received a 30-page ‘you can’t call it that’ letter from Apple’s solicitors enclosing a long printout of many Apple’s registered trademarks in Europe, which naturally didn’t include the word appleexpo,” Robert Peckham, a consultant for the show told us.
The organisers have attempted to sell the benefits of the show to Apple both here and in the US, but so far have been given the cold shoulder.
“As we’re still nine months away from the show, we’re now hoping that somebody in a position of management in Apple is monitoring our updates on Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn, and will eventually realise that we really are doing this show for the benefit of their users,” added Peckham.
“They are certainly a very suspicious company, Apple. Almost bordering on paranoid, they really do appear to think that everyone is out to capitalise on their brand for personal gain.”
The last major Apple Show in the UK – MacExpo – ran for over ten years. It was last held at Olympia in 2007, the year that Apple spectacularly pulled out from exhibiting at the show. MacExpo became Creative Pro Expo for one last show the following year, but was then dissolved.
