Guide Note

Apple Inc. has filed a lawsuit against computer maker Psystar Corporation for trademark and copyright infringement, as well as violating Apple's "shrink wrap license."¹

Psystar filed a counter-suit on August 26, 2008, accusing Apple of attempting to monopolize the Mac OS X operating system and wipe out any competition.

Fast Facts

1. Lawsuit was filed on July 3, 2008
2. Charges: trademark infringement, copyright infringement and breach of contract²
3. The PsyStar Open Computer is a PC that retails for $499 and has Mac OS X pre-installed
4. Psystar filed counter-suit on August 26, 2008
5. Psystar accuses Apple of anti-competition practices

The lawsuit was filed on July 3, 2008, in the U.S. District Court in Northern California.² Florida-based Psystar has been selling computers with Apple's OS X operating system pre-installed. Intellectual property attorney Jorge Espinosa stated that "Apple's shrink wrap license which comes with OS X specifically requires that the software be installed only on Apple-branded computers."¹