Trademark dispute prompts Purple Sun rebranding

Somewhere the Sun don't shine

Internet monitoring outfit Purple Sun has been forced to rebrand following a long-running trademark dispute with Sun Microsystems. It seems the computer giant got the hump with Purple Sun's use of the word "sun" and blocked its application to trademark the name.

As a result of a protracted dispute UK-based Purple Sun has turned to the Classics for inspiration for its new branding. At a cost of £70,000, Purple Sun is now known as Epitiro, which derives from Ancient Greek and means "to guard" or "watch over" and, according to the company, "more accurately represents the company's product offerings and strength of service".

Asked why the company was rebranding a spokesman for Epitiro told us: "We will confirm that the rebranding activity from Purple Sun to Epitiro was conducted in response to a trademark dispute with Sun Microsystems. We do not feel we can comment further on the specifics of this issue.

"Despite this, the new brand marks the company's focus on Internet service monitoring and will be an asset to its international marketing drive."

No one from Sun Microsystems was available for comment at the time of writing. ®