According to records from the World Intellectual Property Organization, Apple has submitted applications in a dozen countries, including Israel, to grant it rights to the graphic image of the common fruit itself.

Several years ago, Microsoft tried to claim legal rights in the United States for the term “window” in order to protect its “Windows” brand. Microsoft was thrown down all the stairs, when the judge informed it that it could not claim rights to a word in the dictionary… Now it seems that Apple is trying to make a similar move, by taking over the intellectual property of the graphic character of apples, the fruit.

The Swiss Fruit Growers Association is a 111-year-old organization. Its symbol, for over a century, is a red apple with a white cross on it, a combination of the national flag and one of the common fruits. Now the oldest and largest organization of farmers in Switzerland is worried that it will have to change its symbol – because of Apple, which is trying to obtain intellectual property rights over the graphic image of any apple, and not just the symbol of the bitten apple associated with it.

“We don’t understand it. It’s not like they’re trying to protect their bitten apple symbol,” Fruit Growers Association Director Jimmy Mariatos tells WIRED. “Their goal is to become the owners of the rights to the image of real apples, which for us, is something universal… and should be freely used by all.”

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO, Apple has submitted similar requests to about a dozen intellectual property registrars in various countries around the world, including Israel, with varying degrees of success. Apple filed an application for rights to apples, among others, in Japan, Turkey, Israel and Armenia. The legal action of is part of a global trend in intellectual property, which encourages large corporations to take over in a predatory manner trademarks that they do not really need.

The attempt to take over the apple as a trademark in Switzerland began back in 2017. Apple has filed an application with the Swiss Intellectual Property Office to obtain copyright for a black and white illustration of a Smith variety apple – the common green apple.

The Authority partially granted the request, saying that Apple can only obtain rights in certain contexts, and cited a legal principle that defines generic images of common goods such as apples, as images in the public domain. Apple appealed the decision, and the case has now gone to the courts there.

Apple did not respond to  request for comment.