Hasta La Gadget!

In today’s installment of “words you didn’t know could be trademarked,” we’ll focus in on Apple and its relationship with a motorcycle manufacturer by the name of Harley-Davidson. Apple’s “Lightning” branding for its new dock connector certainly plays nice with the company’s “Thunderbolt” branding, but in new EU Trademark filings discovered by Patently Apple, we’re finding out that the iPod maker had to talk to Harley-Davidson before it could use the word lightning for its products. That’s because Harley-Davidson owns the trademark for lightning in a lot of different areas, including motorcycle parts, video games, and even glasses.

Harley-Davidson’s trademark for the word lightning remains protected until 2013, so if Apple wanted to call its new dock connector Lightning, it was going to have to get Harley-Davidson’s permission first. That’s exactly what happened, with Harley-Davidson granting Apple a “partial transfer” of the trademark. This means that Apple is free to use the trademark, but Harley-Davidson retains some rights to use it with its own products too.

It never really occurred to use that Apple would need to request a trademark transfer, since “lightning” doesn’t seem like one of those terms that companies can trademark. In any case, the transfer was apparently completed over the weekend, so Apple has partial rights to the Lightning trademark from here on out. We’re not sure what’s going to happen when the trademark’s protection ends in 2013, but we’re sure that Harley-Davidson and Apple will be able to reach another agreement when the time comes.

After all, it isn’t as if Apple would need to use the trademark for motorcycle parts, just as we’re assuming that Harley-Davidson isn’t going to use it for iOS dock connectors anytime soon. We’ll have to see how this all pans out in the future, but for now, Apple and Harley-Davidson apparently don’t have any issues with sharing the rights to the trademark. Check out our story timeline below for more on Lightning!

Apple had to go through Harley-Davidson for Lightning trademark is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When Apple dumped the 30-pin dock connector in exchange for a new power connector called Lightning to power its latest iDevices, many were ambivalent about the move. For Apple users, the new connector is good news. It’s smaller, sturdier, and reversible, which means that users won’t have to worry about which side is the top or the bottom. On the other side, there’s the American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, who incidentally happens to own the licensing trademark of “Lightning.”

Patently Apple writes that the Cupertino-based technology giant had to acquire the trademark from the motorcycle manufacturer. Trademark applications for the name “Lightning” were published by the EU Patent & Trademark Office on Sunday, indicating that Apple bought the trademark from Harley-Davidson. However, Patently Apple adds that the trademark is still protected until next year. Apparently Harley-Davidson uses the trademark “Lightning” for its products, ranging from helmets to eye glasses, and from motorcycle electrical parts to computer game programs. How much Apple paid remains to be seen.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Sold 11 iPads Per Hour During Black Friday, Says Report, Apple Store Philosophy Revealed,

Scosche Industries is no stranger to those who are firmly entrenched in the world of accessories for smartphones, tablets, notebooks and computers. In fact, here they are with their latest announcement that are sure to please the new iPhone 5 owners out there – especially since Scosche is the first accessory manufacturer to have unveiled both 5 and 12 watt Lightning wall and car chargers. In order to keep up with the times and be forward looking, Scosche has decisively done away with 10W chargers from its range since these are unable to charge the new iPad 4th generation at the fastest charging speed possible. iPad mini owners, on the other hand, are able to make full use of the new 12W chargers from Scosche, where these are more than capable of powering the smaller tablet in a matter of 3 hours, which is far faster than the 4.75 hours required via the 5W charger that is included with each iPad mini purchase.

Kas Alves, Executive Vice President of Scosche Industries, said, “Smartphones and tablets are an integral part of our daily lives, but keeping them all charged can create several challenges. We designed our Lightning chargers with flexibility in mind. The new line provides power solutions for home and on the go and addresses the varying wattage requirements of our favorite devices, the need to charge multiple devices simultaneously and is capable of powering multiple devices with different connections with the same charger.”

The new strikeDRIVE for the car and strikeBASE for the home boasts of a captive (connected) Lightning cable, where it will be available in both 5 and 12 watt models. There is a similar strikeDRIVE 12w + 12w that makes use of a captive cable with both a microUSB and Lightning tips while boasting a second, tablet-friendly, 12w port that enables it to charge a couple of USB powered mobile devices simultaneously. All of Scosche’s Pro Lightning chargers will come with dual USB ports, accompanied by a 3 ft. charge and sync cable with both Lightning and microUSB connections. Talk about convenient charging on the go!

Press Release
[ Scosche announces Lightning Wall and Car chargers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

That larger JBL speaker dock looks familiar, doesn’t it? Near the end of September, Harman gave us a peak at it’s latest consumer audio products. Curiously, however, a slew of new iOS-focused speaker docks were shown off, each lacking a Lightning connector. Today that’s changed, as JBL has announced a duo of systems that are equipped with Lightning docks. To start, the larger system is dubbed as the OnBeat Venue LTE ($200). This unit is essentially a Lightning-enhanced version of the 30-pin loaded Venue we recently spent time with, featuring the same 30 watts of power and Bluetooth connectivity with Apt-X support. Like it’s sibling, the dock can be set flush with the front, and better yet, you’ll even be able to dock your iPad Mini into it. Sizing things down a bit is the OnBeat Micro, a $100 bedside system that’ll play nice with the iPhone 5 and the new iPod Nano. While it doesn’t benefit from Harman’s Bluetooth know-how (a pricing consideration, as we’re told), it’s loaded with a rechargeable battery for quick bouts away from wall power.

Based on a quick listening session, we can report that the Venue LT sounded very full and clear. Even with the optional bass- or vocal-boosts enabled, it didn’t seem like the speakers were having trouble pushing out a high level of volume. The Micro on the other hand sounded decidedly tinny, which we’re frankly not surprised about given the size. Both systems are compatible with JBL’s MusicFlow app as well, giving you some extended options for tweaking the EQ. Both rigs felt fairly sturdy, but we were immediately able to notice some niggles with the Lighting connector. Our iPhone 5 and Harman’s iPad Mini and iPod Nano clicked into place easily with the connector, but the hinge it’s built on is very loose without any tension. A slight knock could potentially send an iOS device leaning forward, which would have us concerned in a party situation (the problem is more apparent on the Venue). Secondly, the docks won’t play nice with common cases like Speck’s CandyShell, so you’ll need to have your devices naked before docking. JBL noted the quirks, stating that they have little control over the behavior of connector itself, as it’s is supplied by Apple.

JBL expects that the OnBeat Venue LT and Micro will be the only Lightning-packing speaker docks for at least the holidays, so check out the press release after the break for more details if you’re interested. As for us? We’d say the Venue LT is definitely worth a look, but we’d just as easily pass on the Micro given the myriad options out there for smaller Bluetooth-equipped speakers.

Continue reading JBL intros first Lightning-equipped speaker docks, we go ears-on

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video

JBL intros first Lightning-equipped speaker docks, we go ears-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve snagged one of Apple’s new iThings complete with 30-pin dock connector-replacing Lightning ports, Scosche is the next manufacturer (after Belkin) to offer up a compatible line of accessories. The variety of car and wall chargers come in several 12W and 5W variants, with the more powerful ones pushing enough juice to quick charge those fourth generation iPads and iPad minis. Of course, while they can provide design alternatives like multiple ports that Apple’s official hardware doesn’t cover, there’s not a price break coming with the cheapest strikeDRIVE car charger starting at $29.99, while the most expensive item listed is the strikeBase pro dual USB wall charger (pictured above) and lightning cable setup for $49.99. There’s more details at the source link if you’re interested in purchasing. Apple users let us know what your plan is — making do with just the one new charger, slapping on a $29 adapter, or sticking with old hardware for now / switching to a new platform to avoid the new connector altogether?

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Tablets, Apple

Scosche is next up with Lightning accessories, brings chargers for iPads and iPhones alike originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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