One of Apple’s most fiercely guarded secrets? The name of the next iPhone.
It’s known that the device will launch later this year, 完成与一个不锈钢和玻璃主体,,en,更好的屏幕和快速3-D传感器识别你的脸,,en,它可以被称为iPhone X,,en,为庆祝标志性产品的10周年,,en,或者只是iPhone,,en,但是，蒂姆·库克不想让我们知道肯定，直到他说出舞台上的名字,,en,苹果痴迷侦探已成功在世界各地寻找商标局揪出了公司产品的名称和细节,,en, a better screen and a speedy 3-D sensor that recognises your face.
It may be called the iPhone X, to celebrate the iconic product’s 10th anniversary, or maybe just iPhone 8. But Tim Cook doesn’t want us to know for sure until he utters the name on stage.
近年, Apple-obsessed sleuths have managed to ferret out the names and details of the company’s products by searching trademark offices around the world.
但他们的挑战变得更难成倍由于在牙买加的商标办公室适时规则的改变和列支敦士登的一些聪明的操纵,,en,一点背景知识,,en,苹果公司已经采用各种战术，以保持其产品名称的秘密多年来,,en,一个是简单地通过特拉华州空壳公司注册名称,,en,这是该公司做了什么，因为它正准备推出的iPad,,en,但商标被还提出在亚洲等主要地区,,en.
First, a little background. Apple has employed various tactics to keep its product names secret over the years. One is to simply register the name via a Delaware shell company. That’s what the company did as it was preparing to launch the iPad in 2010.
But the trademark was also filed in major regions like Asia, 并通过时间史蒂夫·乔布斯推出了iPad在旧金山的一个引人注意的事件,,en,自封侦探已经贴满了产品的名字都在网上,,en,一个更有效的方法也被谷歌,,en,亚马逊和其它高科技公司包括在国外注册域名，而不搜索商标数据库,,en,这些措施包括特立尼达和多巴哥,,en,巴巴多斯,,en,秘鲁和牙买加,,en,后者已成为公司如苹果最喜欢的藏身之处,,en, the self-styled detectives had plastered the product’s name all over the web.
A more effective approach also used by Google, Amazon and other tech companies involves registering names in foreign countries without searchable trademark databases. These include Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Peru and Jamaica. The latter has become a favourite hiding place for companies such as Apple.
牙买加知识产权局坐落在一个现代化的手掌两侧建设资金,,en,金士顿,,en,进行搜索的唯一方法是亲身,,en,这意味着侦探需要坐飞机到牙买加或租用当地的商标律师搜索办公室的电脑系统，如一个老派的图书馆,,en,由于HomePod名字被注册在列支敦士登,,en,没有人发现它命名为宣布前,,en,一个名为布赖恩·康罗伊律师,,en,已经了解到，苹果使用的牙买加注册商标。其,,en, Kingston. The only way to conduct searches is in-person, meaning sleuths need to fly to Jamaica or hire a local trademark lawyer to search the office’s computer system like an old-school library.
Because the HomePod name was registered in Liechtenstein, no-one discovered the name before it was announced.
去年, a lawyer named Brian Conroy, having learned that Apple used Jamaica to register its trademarks, 决定，看他是否能挖出个未来的产品信息,,en,为什么爱尔兰律师做这样的事情有套现的信息没有明显的方式,,en,在一封电子邮件中,,en,他列举三个原因,,en,因为我可以,,en,因为我很喜欢这个小窥到未来的新备案的商标可以给,,en,无耻的自我推销。,,en,自描述,,en,商标忍者,,en,付出了当地的律师事务所数百美元来搜索该办公室的现场计算机和打了一个丰富的静脉,,en.
Why would an Irish lawyer do such a thing with no obvious way to monetise the information?
In an email, he cited three reasons: “Because I could, because I quite like the little glimpse into the future that newly filed trademarks can give [和] shameless self-promotion.”
The self-described “trademark ninja” paid a local law firm hundreds of dollars to search the office’s on-site computers-and hit a rich vein.
之前，去年苹果的九月和十月发布活动月,,en,康罗伊发表在牙买加申请商标的列表,,en,一对申报的,,en,iPhone 7,,en,明显的下一个手机型号,,en,康罗伊也拉升不太明显的名称，如,,en,AirPods,,bg,触摸条,,fr,该AirPods结束了对苹果的新的无线耳机名称,,en,而触摸条是最新的MacBook Pro键盘的触摸屏条,,en,几个月前,,en, Conroy published a list of trademarks applied for in Jamaica. One pair of filings, 该 “iPhone 7″ 和 “iPhone 7 更多”, were obviously the next handset models. Conroy also pulled up less obvious names like “AirPods” 和 “Touch Bar”. The AirPods ended up being the name for Apple’s new wireless earphones, while the Touch Bar is the touch screen strip on the latest MacBook Pro keyboards.
A few months ago, 苹果申请注册在列支敦士登的新的Siri电源的扬声器商标,,en,虽然公国的在线商标数据库,,en,产品名称不显示，直到该商标申请获批,,en,一个过程，需要时间,,en,其结果是，世界上没有学到的小工具的名称HomePod，直到它在六月揭幕,,en,苹果公司拒绝对此发表评论,,en,我怀疑苹果会继续跳司法管辖区，以保持窥探远,,en,康罗伊说,,en. While the principality has an online trademark database, product names don’t show up until the trademark application is approved, a process that takes time.
As a result the world didn’t learn the gadget’s name-HomePod-until its unveiling in June. Apple declined to comment.
“I suspect Apple will keep jumping from jurisdiction to jurisdiction to keep prying eyes away,” Conroy says. “每找到未来的产品名称的商标时它会在黑暗中拍摄。,,en,即使在黑暗中拍摄可能过于乐观,,en,牙买加商标申请为新iPhone和耳机三周后击中网去年,,en,当地商标局提出了很多难以搜索产品名称,,en,康罗伊说，这是现在几乎不可能发现产品名称,,en,特别是对全新的小工具或计算机,,en”
Even a shot in the dark may be overly optimistic. Three weeks after the Jamaican trademark filings for the new iPhone and earphones hit the web last year, the local trademark office made it a lot harder to search for product names.
Conroy says it’s now next to impossible to discover product names, especially for entirely new gadgets or computers.
“You can no longer search for ‘any applications filed by Apple in the last X months,'” Conroy says, “which is what you really need to do to find trademarks for products which don’t yet exist and which we don’t know the name of.”
源: stuff.co.nz
