Apple's move to sue meal planning app Prepear over its pear logo has rubbed social media users the wrong way. Netizens called the tech giant a "bully" for going behind small businesses over "ridiculous" claims.
In its notice of opposition, Apple claimed Prepear's pear logo would confuse customers with Apple's apple logo making them believe the tech giant was endorsing the app. The Cupertino-based company also stated that Prepear's logo – a minimalistic fruit design with a right-angled leaf – created a commercial impression to that of Apple's popular bitten apple logo.
As a response, Prepear launched an online petition urging people to request Apple to drop its lawsuit. The company that has only five employees said it was a "terrifying experience" to be slapped with a lawsuit by one of the largest companies in the world. It also maintained it did "nothing wrong" by having the pear logo.
Prepear that was started by food bloggers reportedly said that they filed for a trademark of the logo in 2017 and was accepted by the U.S. Trademark Office. However, Apple filed for objection on the last day.
"We feel a moral obligation to take a stand against Apple's aggressive legal action against small businesses and fight for the right to keep our logo. We are defending ourselves against Apple not only to keep our logo but to send a message to big tech companies that bullying small businesses has consequences," Prepear wrote in its petition filed on Change.org.
The petition sought at least 35,000 signatures and, so far, more than 27,000 people signed the appeal. Following the petition, social media users took to Twitter to call out Apple over the lawsuit. Some users even threatened they would stop buying Apple products if the company went ahead with the case against Prepear. However, Apple is yet to respond to the development.
