Brothers do a neat Italian Job of trademarking 'Steve Jobs'

Italian brothers, Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato, have managed to eat the 'forbidden fruit' and in the end, escape relatively unscathed — at least literally. The brothers named their company 'Steve Jobs' after the iconic Apple founder and as one would expect, invited Apple's wrath.

Italian news outlet, la Repubblica Napoli, reports that shortly after the Barbatos named their brand 'Steve Jobs' back in 2012, Apple dragged them to court but the brothers won the legal battle. Apparently, the Cupertino giant did not trademark its founder's name, which made the court to rule the judgement in favor of the Barbatos. The fact that 'Steve Jobs' was not trademarked was found by the brothers after doing extensive market research.

It didn't stop with the name. The logo of 'Steve Jobs' resembles a 'J' bitten off the side and topped by a leaf — a very Apple-esque representation. The court, however, ruled the decision in favor of the Barbatos as it opined that the letter 'J' was not edible and the cutout, therefore, cannot be taken to be a bite. Hence, it does not infringe on Apple's characteristic bitten Apple logo. The decision was pronounced back in 2014 itself but it is only now that the brothers could lay claim to the brand.

Vincenzo and Giacomo currently produce clothing, bags, and other fashion items under the 'Steve Jobs' brand. They soon intend to expand into electronics, which they say have been working on for quite some time. It will be surely be interesting to see what new innovations 'Steve Jobs' has in store in the days to come.

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