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Switzerland's biggest union of fruit farmers has hit out at Californian tech giant Apple for allegedly attempting to trademark apples.

The 111-year-old organisation, which has stood up for the plight of the humble Swiss apple farmer for over a century, could be forced to change its logo because of a legal bid by Apple.

The Fruit Union Suisse logo shows a red apple with a Swiss white cross on it. But Apple has put in a request with the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property to gain trademark rights to a generic image of an apple which would prevent organisations like Fruit Union Suisse from using apples in their logo.

This has been met with grave concern from the representatives of Swiss fruit farmers, who fear entering what they call 'slippery territory'.

Jimmy Mariethoz, the director of Fruit Union Suisse, told WIRED: "We're having a hard time understanding this, because it's not like they're trying to protect their bitten apple.

"Their objective here is really to own the rights to an actual apple, which, for us, is something that is really almost universal… that should be free for everyone to use."

He added that the Fruit Union is worried that, because Apple hasn't clarified which 'apple shapes' it wants to protect, it could pursue organisations like his.

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Martiethoz said: "We're concerned that any visual representation of an apple—so anything that's audiovisual or linked to new technologies or to media—could potentially be impacted. That would be a very, very big restriction for us.

"Theoretically, we could be entering slippery territory every time we advertise with an apple."

Apple has been approached for comment and this article will be updated if they offer a statement.

Switzerland is the world's 41st biggest producer of apples, churning out hundreds of thousands of them every year.

If Apple wins its appeal, it could open the door to further trademark clampdowns on apples across Europe.

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