Holy Bad Timing, Batman! Apple's issuing lawsuits like they're free samples of Calvin Klein's "Litigation." While this hasn't been confirmed, it would appear that mere days before disgruntled Mac users are expected to protest Apple's overzealous lawyers (who have shut down fan sites such as MacCards with a zest tantamount to manic glee), said legal team may be at it again. Remember last May, when a mysterious Power Mac G4 commercial called "Espionage" showed up at AdCritic? The Mac community wondered whether that commercial was a real, unreleased Apple ad, or if it was just a really professionally-produced fake. Well, as it turned out, it was a fake-- a "speculation ad" made to attract attention, presumably from companies looking to hire a couple of hotshot commercial makers. Unfortunately, it attracted a less welcome kind of attention instead. Lawsuit, anyone?

See, AtAT just received email from Karl Larsen, the producer of "Espionage." He claims that "Apple Computer now has a huge lawsuit pending against the commercial's creators, for use of the Apple logo." Again, this is still unsubstantiated, but given Apple's initial response to the "Espionage" clip (it demanded that AdCritic remove all official Apple ads and, according to MacCentral, ominously stated that it would address trademark infringement issues in "Espionage" directly with "the spot's creators"), it doesn't seem unlikely. It's widely-known that Apple-- particularly Apple in the second Steve Dynasty-- jealously guards its logo and considers all unauthorized use a crime on par with kidnapping, arson, and kicking small dogs while jabbing sleeping babies with straight pins. As such, whenever a non-Apple entity blatantly uses the Apple logo in a way that might lead to customer confusion, the lawyers are let off their leashes.

Sadly, we received Karl's email too late to grant his request-- namely, that we ask all viewers to vote for "Espionage" in AdMine's upcoming "Gold Rush Awards." (The registration deadline was yesterday.) Karl's hope is that the $100,000 first-place prize money could help defray his legal costs as the lawsuit progresses. Perhaps he'll win even without our help. In any case, if what he says about Apple's latest legal smackdown turns out to be true, then we wonder whether this info will further boost the Expo protesters' resolve. Fasten your seatbelts on Wednesday, because it could turn out to be a pretty bumpy ride.