Apple Owns the Word POD

Apple thinks it owns the word pod

Apple is chasing after companies it believes are infringing on its copyright of the iPod name to get them to stop using the word “pod” in their names.

Pocastready and Mypodder have recently received cease and desist
letters from Apple because consumers could confuse them with Apple
products. Apple took the action because two companies were trying to
register the phrases themselves.

Robert Scoble already have a post on this..Check it out.

The letter said, in part, “As you may be aware, Apple has used its IPOD
mark since at least as early as October 2001. Since that time, the IPOD
trademark has become famous. Moreover, the term POD has also been
adopted and used extensively in the marketplace by consumers as an
abbreviation to refer to Apple's IPOD player".

"While Apple, of course, has no general objection to proper use of the descriptive term 'podcast' as part of a trademark for goods and services offered in the podcasting
field, it cannot allow marks that go beyond this legitimate use and
infringe on Apple's rights in POD and IPOD.”

Apple does own the rights to "iPod" and is apparently applying for the same rights for "pod" in some countries.