Follow Up: Woolworths

Last year, as reported on Brand New, Australia's largest grocery store chain, Woolworths, underwent a redesign that yielded a stylized \"W\" that could resemble some kind of ambiguous piece of produce but that undeniably looked like an apple. This past month, before Apple came into the picture, the owner of Woolworths, Progressive Enterprises, announced that another one of its grocery store brands, Countdown, would be replacing the Woolworths name across Australia and New Zealand, leaving the stylized \"W\" devoid of its double-u-ness. Then, at some point in the last twelve months Apple has decided to contest the trademark application of Woolworths/Countdown with IP Australia, the government agency that handles trademarks. One of Apple's main concerns was that Woolworths wants to cover all possible categories including \"electrical goods and technology.\" Even though you are more likely to find Woolworths-branded napkins at their store, Apple still feels threatened by this logo which, in my mind, is a whole other kind of logo and Apple should keep their attorneys busy with something else.

Update: Apologies, I got some facts wrong. Countdown is replacing Woolworths only in New Zealand not Australia. Also, Woolworths Limited owns the Woolworths chain and Progressive Enterprises as its New Zealand subsidiary, which in turn owns Countdown. (Thanks for the corrections readers!).

Thanks to Lindsay Yee and Chris Rank for the tip.

Many thanks to our ADV @ UnderConsideration Partners