Apple sued by a Japanese company over iPhone X Animoji feature

Ahead of the official release of the iPhone X, Apple is finding itself embroiled in a trademark lawsuit in the US for the usage of the term 'Animoji', according to a Reuters report. A Tokyo based company is suing Apple for using the term Animoji, claiming trademark rights over the name in the US.

The Tokyo-based company, Emonster kk, filed the suit last Wednesday in the US federal court, saying, “Apple made the conscious decision to try to pilfer the name for itself.” The company’s CEO, Enrique Bonansea is a US citizen living in Japan. According to the lawsuit, Apple was aware of Emonster’s trademark because the app is available in the Apple Store. The Emonster app costs $0.99 on Apple iTunes.

The iPhone X’s Animoji feature lets people transform their face into customized moving emoji with the help from Apple’s face recognition technology “FaceID”.

“This is a textbook case of willful, deliberate trademark infringement. With full awareness of plaintiffs’ Animoji mark, Apple decided to take the name and pretend to the world that ‘Animoji’ was original to Apple,” the lawsuit reads.

Emonster said it is seeking unspecified money damages from the tech giant and a court order blocking the usage of the name Animoji by Apple while the lawsuit is pending.