November 16, 1982: Jobs Seeks Permission to Use Macintosh Name

Jef Raskin and Steve Jobs had many disagreements about the Macintosh that finally resulted in Jef Raskin leaving Apple altogether.

One thing they agreed upon, however, was the name "Macintosh." The name was given to the project by Jef and was carefully chosen. Jef even went so far as to purposefully spell the name Macintosh to distinguish the computer from the McIntosh Laboratory, a manufacturer of high stereo equipment.

Perhaps predictably, the added "a" was for naught, as upon application for trademark the "Macintosh" was deemed too similar to the "McIntosh" trademark. Steve Jobs wrote a letter to the President of McIntosh labs this day in 1982, requesting permission to use the name Macintosh. (For the record, the request was denied. Four years later and following a substantial cash payment, Apple secured the right to use the name “Mac.”)