Australian start-up named HealthKit "annoyed" at Apple for using its name

An Australian start-up company with the name of HealthKit, sent out a tweet on Tuesday to say that it was annoyed with Apple for using the name HealthKit for its "new health product." The tech titan introduced the app on Monday at WWDC.  In the same tweet, the company asked Apple CEO Tim Cook if he was aware that HealthKit was a name already being used in Australia. The start-up owns the domain name and the Twitter account using the HealthKit name.

Since Apple failed to secure all of the necessary signatures and permissions to use the name HealthKit, it could indicate that there was a late rush to change the name. For months, there was speculation that Apple would use the moniker HealthBook for the app, which stores and analyzes data about your health. HealthKit was one of three names that recently appeared in a trademark application that was rumored to have come from Apple.

You might remember that back in July 2012, Apple paid Proview $60 million for the rights to the iPad name in China. The whole affair was a mess, with Apple previously purchasing the rights to use the name from Proview's Taiwan branch. But Apple later learned the hard way, that it had not done the proper research, and that the original purchase only dealt with the use of the iPad name in Taiwan. Is history about to repeat itself?


source: @HealthKit, Wired via SlashGear