Japanese company sues Apple for ‘Animoji’ trademark

Image: Apple official website

Last month, Apple unveiled the new, slick features of its upcoming “iPhone X,” including wireless charging and the facial recognition system.

READ: iPhone X speculations mostly got it right

But perhaps what stood out the most is the quirky “Animoji” app, which allows users to morph their face into customized moving animal emojis.

Less than two weeks away from the phone’s worldwide release, Tokyo-based company Emonster is filing a trademark suit against the tech giant for supposedly using the name for its new feature.

“Apple made the conscious decision to try to pilfer the name for itself,”  the company’s CEO, Enrique Bonansea, said after filing the suit in US federal court earlier this week.

According to The Verge, Emonster does not have the same facial-moving feature, but it does have a service that lets people send emojis in an animated loop like GIFs. The app first launched in 2014 and bears the same name “Animoji.”

Although both features boast different services, the lawsuit implies that the original Animoji app and the iPhone X are on Apple’s platforms and the court should only allow one to hold the name.

Furthermore, Emonster officials revealed that they turned down an offer made by Apple to purchase the trademark, but that the company kept using the name anyway.

Emonster is reportedly seeking an undetermined amount in damages and demands that Apple be legally prohibited to use the name.

Apple, on the other hand, filed a petition in September to cancel the trademark, but the matter remains under review as of this writing.  Khristian Ibarrola /ra

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