Time for an update on what we're sure history will prove to be the ultimate lawsuit of this millennium: Apple's epic struggle against TIBCO! For those of you who need a refresher, you are no doubt already aware that Apple's zero-configuration TCP/IP discovery-and-connection technology introduced with Mac OS X 10.2 is called Rendezvous. Well, TIBCO just happens to have its own product called Rendezvous, which is not only in the same general category as Apple's thingy (computer networking software), but has also held the "Rendezvous" registered trademark in the U.S. since 1994. Apple refused to comply with TIBCO's demands that it rename Jaguar's Rendezvous to "I Can't Believe It's Not AppleTalk!" and therefore got slapped with a trademark infringement lawsuit.

Now, maybe it's just us, but we're starting to see certain similarities between TIBCO vs. Apple and what history has proved to be the ultimate lawsuit of the last millennium: Apple's epic struggle against Imatec, who claimed that ColorSync infringed its patents. If you followed that case, you might recall that at one point Imatec took a short break from hassling Apple to commence the incredibly endearing strategy of shaking down end-users of ColorSync as if they were on trial, too. Well, guess what? MacNN reports that an Australian software developer just got a nasty note from TIBCO's lawyers because he mentioned Apple's Rendezvous in his marketing materials for an iChat plugin. (Since AtAT has already mentioned "Rendezvous" a whopping six times in just this one scene, we can only assume that TIBCO will be banging down our door next. Bring it on, Short Round.)

Similarity Number Two: a certain financial shadiness surrounding the plaintiffs. Early on in the Imatec suit, Mac fans discovered that the company had been busted for the illegal sale of stock and were associated with an investment bank that the feds had shut down for fraud. Well, there's nothing quite so dramatic with TIBCO, but Macworld UK notes that "the company has been named in a putative class action... for violating federal securities laws in the way it conducted its IPO." Now, we should probably mention that TIBCO's IPO happened in 1999 at the height of the dotcom craziness and no fewer than three hundred U.S. companies are named in that class action, but still, the faint whiff of economic impropriety brought Imatec to mind.

The parallels are astounding, no? For its part, Apple is no doubt hoping that the similarities don't end there; you probably remember that the Imatec suit was laughed out of court, and not only did Apple prevail, but Imatec also lost all of its patents in the process. So if TIBCO follows in Imatec's footsteps, eventually Apple will get all rights to the Rendezvous name and TIBCO will have to rename its product "FailedGrabForCash" or "New Coke" or something. Stay tuned...