Shortcuts is a cool feature in iOS 12 that carries out a collection on actions with a single Siri command. But a startup accuses Apple of stealing its logo.
The company’s name is Shift, and both it and the Apple Shortcuts app have logos that are stylized versions of the letter ‘s.’ Additionally, both use similar colors: blue and magenta.
“It’s mind-blowing that Apple, the firm with the biggest cash pile in history, the firm that is so design oriented, had to copy our logo,” a Shift spokesperson told The Sun.
Graphic: Setapp
But this basic design is hardly unique. The macOS software subscription service Setapp uses a very similar logo.
Shift lawyers up
Shift sent Apple a Cease and Desist letter, or is requesting $200,000 (£150,000) to change its logo.
The C&D letter says “Our client has spent and continues to spend substantial time and effort in advertising, and promoting its mark as the source of its downloadable application. Customers have come to recognise and associate the Shift trademark as the source of our client’s product. As a result, the Shift trademark has become an asset of susbtantial value and a symbol of our client’s goodwill.”
Shift doesn’t seem to be the trademark equivalent of a “patent troll.” It’s a real company that has created the Shift blockchain application platform.
It is not yet known how Apple plans to react to the Cease and Desist letter. It could change the Apple Shortcuts logo, pay the money, or fight this out in court.
