OS-9 owner to appeal Apple MacOS 9 trademark ruling

Operating system supplier Microware Systems will appeal against the US District Court for the Southern District of Iowa's decision to chuck out its claim that Apple violated its trademarks. The ruling, made on 17 March, said that Apple's MacOS 9 was not a misappropriation of Microware's OS-9 trademark. OS-9 has been available for nearly 20 years, whereas MacOS 9 only shipped last autumn. That said, MacOS 9 is a natural extension of Apple's OS numbering scheme based on version number, and on that basis the Iowa court ruled in Apple's favour. It also noted that OS-9, an embedded operating system, and MacOS 9, a desktop OS, were aimed at very different markets and would therefore not be confused in the minds of customers. ® Related Stories Apple defeats 'OS 9' trademark suit OS-9 developer sues Apple over MacOS 9