Apple Sues Small Cinema Chain, Claiming It’s Cashing In on its Brand
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Apple has been involved in numerous trademark lawsuits, and it’s time to add another one to that list. Apple has sued movie theater chain Apple Cinemas over what the iPhone maker says is a deliberate attempt to capitalize on its name.
Apple Cinemas was founded in 2010 and opened its first theater in 2013. However, Apple has left it alone until now. The reason for the legal action? Initially, Apple Cinemas was a small chain based in Massachusetts. Then, as the chain started to slowly expand, it opened a theater in San Francisco in July 2025, and that’s when Apple took notice.
As initially reported by MacRumors, Apple filed suit against the theater chain because it has announced plans to add another 100 theaters around the country. Apple’s full filing states the movie company has “refused to engage with Apple’s repeated efforts to resolve the matter amicably.”
Apple also alleges that the public is confused as to its involvement in the theater chain, citing social media posts as evidence. Plus, the lawsuit claims that Apple Cinemas announced the opening of its San Francisco location by promoting “its ‘high-tech’ offerings,” as it “teased another San Francisco Bay Area theater coming soon.”
Apple says the two theaters are close to its Apple Park HQ, and also claims that Apple Cinemas is intentionally expanding near Apple’s retail store locations around the US.
In 2024, the owners of the theater chain reportedly applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to register “Apple Cinemas” and “ACX — Apple Cinematic Experience”. However, both applications were denied, as the USPTO said they were likely to cause confusion with Apple’s previously established trademarks.
Following that failed registration attempt, Apple sent a cease and desist letter to Sand Media, which owns the chain.
While there are several businesses around the world that use the word “Apple” in their name, the theater chain’s expansion comes just as Apple is having some success with its films (F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt, is currently doing remarkably well at the box office). The filing also points out that Apple once offered an Apple Cinema Display.
Other Apple Trademark Lawsuits
This is far from the first time Apple has been involved in trademark lawsuits, some of which it filed, and some that were filed against it.
In December 2017, Apple successfully prevented Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi from registering the name “Mi Pad” as a trademark in the European Union. Xiaomi first filed the trademark application in 2014, four long years after Apple first released the OG iPad in 2010.
The General Court, the EU’s second-highest court, ruled that Xiaomi could not trademark Mi Pad as the name for its lineup of tablets, as it was too similar to Apple’s existing iPad device. The Court said consumers were likely to be confused by the similarity between the two names. it said simply adding the “letter ‘m’ at the beginning of ‘Mi Pad’” was not a sufficient enough difference.
In August 2020, Apple filed a trademark infringement claim over a pear logo used by a small indie developer, Super Healthy Kids, in a new meal planning app, claiming it looked similar enough to the Apple logo to confuse customers. Apple initially doubled down on that fight even in the face of negative public opinion, but ultimately dropped the case in February 2021 after the developer agreed to make a relatively minor change to the logo.
In July 2022, MacTrast reported that in Brazil, Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, issued an opinion siding with Apple in a lawsuit over the exclusive use of the iPhone brand in Brazil between Apple and Brazilian company Gradiente.
Brazilian Consumer Electronics firm IGB had revived a long-running trademark dispute with Apple over the use of the iPhone trademark in Brazil. IGB originally registered the “iPhone” name in 2000 and began to sell a lineup of IPHONE-branded Android smartphones in 2012. The Brazilian company was awarded exclusive rights to the iPhone trademark for a short period, but that ruling was overturned and resulted in Apple and IGB being given rights to both use the name in the country.
Aras said that while it was true that IGB Electronica had applied to register the iPhone trademark several years before the launch of Apple’s smartphone, the “iPhone” brand has since become a globally recognized name for Apple’s handset, playing an important role in the global electronics market.
Unfortunately for Apple, in December 2022, a Brazilian court ruled in favor of Gradiente Eletrônica, saying Apple had knowingly infringed on Gradiente’s trademark rights. Apple decided to appeal the court’s decision.
In May 2025, the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) ruled unanimously in favor of the Brazilian electronics firm, upholding the annulment of a prior ruling that had invalidated its trademark registration of “G Gradiente Iphone.”
That said, Apple continues to offer its smartphone under the “iPhone” name in Brazil.
