As one of the most successful tablets on the market, Apple's iPad has been a resounding success. You'd expect the company to have the rights to the iPad name tightly locked-down... but they can't trademark "iPad Mini", according to the US Patent and Trademark Office who issues a first Office Action which is the initial step in the process to deny the trademark.
The US Patent and Trademark Office rejected the bid to trademark the name, saying that it was "merely descriptive", and did not do enough to conjure an image. Ouch!
You can almost see the Patent Office's argument though; the 'Mini' is merely a suffix on a well-established Apple name, so might be a little unnecessary to trademark.
Apple is still in with a shot of getting the name trademarked, if they can win the Patent Office over before July. That’s three months to do so, and we wouldn't be surprised if there was a trademark given out during that period.
The Cupertino-based company's claim to the name dates all the way back to January. The Patent Office sent a letter to the company in January, but it has only now reached the internet.
Source: BBC
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