Apple has filed a legal challenge to stop a meal planning app from using a pear in its logo.

Prepear's founder, Natalie Monson, posted on Instagram calling for help in fighting the action.

“This is a big blow to us at Prepear. To fight this it will cost tens of thousands of dollars,” Monson said.

“While the rest of the world is going out of their way to help small businesses during this pandemic, Apple has chosen to go after our small business.”

Apple’s court filings, shared by MacRumour, show the company’s opposition to Prepear’s logo is based on the assumption that users “are likely to associate the [logo] with Apple” because it “consists of a minimalistic fruit design with a right-angled leaf”.

This alleged “confusion, mistake or deception in the minds of consumers” would damage Apple’s brand, the company said.

Apple is worth $2.7 trillion and employs 80,000 staff in the US alone.

Prepear, on the other hand, has five employees and is ranked 78 in the App Store’s food and drink section.

“I feel a moral obligation to take a stand against Apple's aggressive legal action against small businesses and fight for the right to keep our logo,” Natalie Monson said.

“We are defending ourselves against Apple not only to keep our logo, but to send a message to big tech companies that bullying small businesses has consequences.”

Natalie Monson of Prepear. Photo: LinkedIn

Prepear has created a Change.org petition to help push back against Apple’s legal action.

Co-founder of Prepear, Russell Monson, called the experience “terrifying”.

“It is a very terrifying experience to be legally attacked by one of the largest companies in the world, even when we have clearly done nothing wrong,” Russell Monson said.

“We understand why most companies just give in and change their logos.”

More than 35,000 people have signed the petition.

An apple a day…

Apple is notorious for trying to protect its famous logo.

Last year, Apple filed a similar objection against a Norwegian political party for its own apple logo and the tech giant has unsuccessfully brought the same action against small German café, Apfelkind for its red apple logo.

Apple has even tried to force Woolworths to stop using its stylised green ‘W’ logo that Apple said also looks too much like the eponymous fruit.

The two came to an agreement and Woolworths continues to use its logo.

Apple has been battling trademark infringements since its inception when Beatles-founded music company Apple Records (soon to be Apple Corps) sued Apple Computers.

In the resulting settlement, Apple Computers said it would stay out of the music business and Apple Records would stay out of the computer business.

Apple Corps tried unsuccessfully to sue Apple Computers again in 2003 after Apple began using its logo in the creation of the iTunes Music Store.

In 2007, the tech giant ended up buying Apple Corps’ trademark rights for the reported sum of over $500 million.