Pass the Popcorn: Apple and ‘Apple Cinemas’ Move to Settle Trademark War
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Last summer, Apple launched a trademark lawsuit against a small theater chain bearing its name, claiming “Apple Cinemas” was using the iPhone maker’s brand recognition to cash in. While the company initially pushed back on that claim, it now appears that it may be backing off and looking for a settlement instead, according to ABC WMUR9 in New Hampshire (via AppleInsider).
While Apple’s lawyers fight vigorously against trademark infringement, often capturing even vaguely similar logos in their net, this case is slightly more blatant, as it involves a theater chain that’s not only using Apple’s name, but has also begun expanding.
That might have been less of an issue ten years ago, when Apple’s primary business was hardware, but now that the tech giant is also making movies through its own Apple Studios, it’s not hard to imagine why it would take umbrage at a company named Apple Cinemas. With Apple not only producing original movies, but premiering them in theaters, it’s not unreasonable to assume the general public might expect a theater chain carrying the same name to be part of the same company.
The original trademark lawsuit filing said as much, with Apple going so far as to accuse Apple Cinemas of “knowingly and intentionally using the name Apple to sow confusion for its own benefit,” and continuing to open new locations emblazoned with the name even after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Apple’s lawyers.
Following that, Apple had little choice but to take it to the courts. However, Apple Cinemas dug in its heels, issuing a statement that it had every right to the Apple name due to its “geographic roots” at the Apple Valley Mall in New England — its “first planned location.”
Of course, if you read that again, you may notice the tricky use of the word “planned” in there. It turns out that Apple Cinemas never actually opened a location at the Apple Valley Mall. The company may have legitimately intended to open one at that location, but it’s extremely disingenuous to claim that this gives them any real legitimacy to the name.
According to Apple’s court filings, the first theater opened in 2013 in the Alewife neighborhood of North Cambridge, Massachusetts, followed by two additional theaters in Connecticut in 2014 and 2015. None of those were anywhere near Apple Valley Mall, which is located in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
Apple didn’t take much notice of Apple Cinemas in those days as the three-theater chain was likely of little concern. As Apple stated in its lawsuit, the theaters opened with “minimal fanfare, no logo, and a basic website,” and some weren’t even emblazoned with the name in any meaningful way, with the one in Waterbury, Connecticut only showing “Apple Cinemas” in temporary letters on the changeable theater copy sign.
However, Apple Cinemas began expanding in 2019, and while it didn’t have much success — it reportedly closed more locations than it opened — it got the attention of Apple Inc.’s lawyers when it had the audacity to try and register its name with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), while also announcing a nationwide expansion to 100 locations with a new logo to match its name.
Those two trademark applications were denied by the USPTO in October 2024 due to being “likely to cause confusion with Apple’s prior trademark rights,” after which Apple began sending cease-and-desist letters and finally launching a lawsuit when Apple Cinemas chose to neither cease nor desist.
In light of all that, it’s rather baffling that Apple Cinemas ever believed it could win an actual trademark lawsuit here. Leaving aside the fact that Apple is a multi-trillion-dollar company with a battalion of well-paid combat lawyers, the USPTO has already established it has virtually no legal ground on which to stand. Hence, it’s not too surprising that the theater company may now be in settlement talks with Apple over the name. That was probably its game from the start — with a side serving of a little bit of publicity along the way.
