Apple buys a word from Harley Davidson, and it’s not hog

You wouldn’t think motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson and Apple have much in common, besides sometimes-fanatical brand devotees. But the two companies just concluded a business deal, for a word.

Apple has acquired a trademark from Harley Davidson for the word “lightning.” Patently Apple noticed the transfer, which would seem to cover the tiny Lightning connector Apple is using in its newest iPhones and iPads.

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Harley Davidson had acquired the trademark to cover motorcycle parts as well as helmets and turn signals. It appears Apple has acquired just some aspects of the trademark, as the EU Patent & Trademark office filing indicates the acquisition was a partial transfer, and Patently Apple states that the usage Apple has purchased falls into the area of “television sets, games, computer game programs, eye glasses, and eyeglass frames.”

Well that’s interesting.

Those usage classes seem to be applicable to the perhaps mythical but always-coming-next-year Apple TV. Or, to a glasses-mounted heads-up display for iPhone and iPad that is reminiscent of Google Glass — an area that Microsoft is also working on.

Which could be very, very interesting indeed.

It seems clear that some sort of head-mounted (glasses, contact lenses, or implant) display is going to be available in the not-too-distant future. And it seems obvious that Apple wants to be one of the companies creating it.

Whether that is really connected to lightning, or docks, or cables is another story.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc