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Apple is suing another fruit-named company — Apple Cinemas — in an attempt to get the small theater company to change its name.
Apple Cinemas has reportedly signed a lease to take over a historic cinema and a retail space in San Francisco that had previously been operated by AMC Theaters and CGV Cinemas. The purchase is part of Apple Cinema’s overall goal of expanding to 100 locations across the country over the next 10 years.
Apple entered a lawsuit on Friday in Massachusetts alleging that the theater company is infringing on its trademark and using its brand to trick consumers into thinking they’re attending a cinema operated by the tech company.
Apple does have a cinema division — Apple Studios — which it began in 2019, but Apple has been offering movie-adjacent entertainment since 1999 via its QuickTime Movie Trailers. The tech company also held cinema events, including some in connection with the Tribeca Film Festival.
The cinema company began its operations in 2013 when it opened its first theater in Massachusetts. The company says its name is from it’s initial plans to open its first theater in the Apple Valley Mall in New England, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
An Apple Cinemas location in Massachusetts. Apple is suing Apple Cinemas for allegedly infringing on its trademark (Google Maps)
The company primarily operated in the northeast until it laid out its plans to expand to San Francisco and other parts of the country in 2024.
Sand Media — Apple Cinema’s parent company — filed an application for the name “Apple Cinematic Experience” but was denied. A trademark examiner ruled that the name might cause confusion between Apple Cinemas and the tech company.
Apple responded to that branding attempt by sending Sand Media a cease and desist letter. It further claims that Apple Cinemas began using a stylized apple for its logo and began focusing its expansion on malls and shopping centers where Apple Stores were already present.
According to the lawsuit, the similar names resulted in landlords at these locations assuming that Apple Cinemas was affiliated with the tech brand. Apple alleges that Apple Cinemas was given favorable deals to open in some areas as a result of the presumed connection.
Further driving the tech giant’s lawsuit are claims that some customers have had negative experiences with Apple Cinemas. Some customers have complained that the theaters are “greasy,” “dirty” and “grungy” and are at times beset by technical issues.
“Consumers should not go to an ‘Apple Cinemas’ theater thinking it is connected to the famous Apple brand, with all its goodwill and brand equity,” Miranda Means, an attorney representing Apple, stated in the lawsuit.
Apple’s goals with its lawsuit are to force the theater chain to stop using the word “Apple” in its name. It is also seeking damages, though the amount was unspecified.
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