The company has opposed singer-songwriters, school districts and food blogs for trying to trademark names or logos featuring an apple — or a pear or pineapple.
Ryan Mac reported from Los Angeles and Kellen Browning from San Francisco.
When Genevieve St. John started a sex-and-life coaching blog in 2019, she designed a logo for the business of a neon green and pink apple, which was cut open to resemble female genitalia.
Not long after applying to register the logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that year, Ms. St. John received an unpleasant surprise. Her request had been challenged — by Apple.
In a 246-page opposition filing, lawyers for the iPhone maker wrote that Ms. St. John’s logo was “likely to tarnish Apple’s reputation, which Apple has cultivated in…