In a world precedent, ProWess Sports successfully defended it’s use of the STATSPOD trademark and was awarded costs. In a recent Trade Marks decision, it was ruled that STATSPOD was not substantially similar to Apple Computer Inc’s trade mark “IPOD” allowing ProWess to register it’s trademark for use.

In 2005, Prowess Sports registered STATSPOD as a trademark for it’s new voice-activated technology which was a development supported and subsidised by an AusIndustry grant. The trademark STATSPOD was selected for the software and associated hardware as an acronym of the words STATiStical Performance On Demand to describe an event logging device used to deliver sporting performance data and statistics for coaches and analysts on demand. 

The registration was duly accepted by the Trade Marks Office, but promptly opposed by Apple Corporation who systematically check all usage of the references to term “Pod”. It was nearly 3 years later that the case was finally heard by a delegate of the Registrar of Trade Marks. Apple argued that the mark STATSPOD was substantially similar to its registrations for the mark IPOD for the same or similar goods and that use of the mark STATSPOD was also likely to deceive or cause confusion because of Apple’s reputation for the IPOD mark. Apple argued that because of the common element “POD” in both marks, the public would think that STATSPOD was a brand extension of IPOD.

StatsPod is designed to operate in noisy, loud environments such as a basketball or football stadium or a swimming centre. Statistics are defined from a pre-set vocabulary relevant to your sport. Participant involvements, raw statistical events, set plays, strategic events – in fact you can make up you own codes if you wish !

Statspod is is designed to run on the latest ultra-portable computers with the latest in noise eliminating headset/microphones to minimise external noise, StatsPod allows for a high level of accuracy and an audio is optionally available for auditing and verification so there is no uncertainty. The official  trademark ruling can be read in detail here and an article posted in Aust Financial review is found here