Cyprus indie studio Apella Games has won proceedings with Apple for the rights to the trademark “Apella Games”. The conflict lasted almost two years.
Apple filed a complaint against the developers in June 2021 after they decided to register the mark in the European Union. She stated that the name of the studio visually, phonetically and conceptually resembles the name of Apple itself.
The EU authorities did not agree with Apple’s arguments. In their decision, the officials pointed out that the companies have different types of activities, and consumers will not confuse them, despite the use of the same letters in the names. Apple now has two months to file an appeal.
Note: the word Apella is a transliteration of the ancient Greek ΑπέΛλα. It meant the people’s assembly in Sparta.
Apella Games opened in 2020 and specializes in free-to-play games for PC and consoles. She is currently working on her debut project Rite of Titans.