iLounge

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially denied Apple’s request for a trademark on the term “Multi-touch.” Mac Rumors reports that Apple originally applied for the trademark on January 9, 2007, the day after the original iPhone was introduced. According to the report, the initial trademark application was denied by a USPTO lawyer, which caused Apple to appel to the body’s Appeal Board. In its decision denying Apple’s appeal, the Board found that “‘multi-touch’ not only identifies the technology, but also describes how a user of the goods operates the device,” but also found that the term has taken on a generic meaning, as it is widely used to describe the capacitive touchscreen technology found on a wide variety of modern devices.