∞ Apple sued for violating iBooks trademark

Apple is being sued for violating another “i” trademark — this time its for iBooks.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]The lawsuit is being brought by publisher John T. Colby, who purchased the rights to “ibooks” in 2006 and 2007, according to AppleInsider. The company is said to have published over 1,000 books using the name.

Of course, Apple’s original use of the term iBook was used for one of its computers. It didn’t start using the term for software until last year when it released the iBooks application and store.

The lawsuit contends that since Apple’s original trademark only covered hardware, it’s use to describe books is infringing on Colby’s trademark.

“Apple’s use of the mark ‘iBooks’ to denote the electronic library that can be accessed via its iPad tablet computer and its iPhone is likely to overwhelm the good will of plaintiffs’ ‘ibooks’ and ‘ipicturebooks’ marks and render them virtually worthless,” according to the lawsuit.