Apple COO: "We Will Not Stand for Having Our IP Ripped Off"

An interesting tidbit from Apple’s first-quarter earnings call just now. Asked for his company’s view on new iPhone rivals like the Palm (PALM) Pre and handsets running Google’s (GOOG) Android OS, Apple (AAPL) COO Tim Cook answered with a bit of considered saber rattling. “We are watching the landscape,” he said. “We like competition, as long as they don’t rip off our IP, and if they do, we’re going to go after anybody that does … I don’t want to talk about any specific company. I’m just making a general statement that we think competition is good; it makes it us all better. And we’re ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off and we’ll use whatever weapons we have at our disposal [to make sure that doesn’t happen]. I don’t know that I can be more clear than that.”

Quite a remark, and one that sounds like it had quite a bit of heat behind it. Worth noting, coming as it does after the debut of the Pre, which some critics claim boasts more than a handful of Apple-esque design flourishes. Understandable, perhaps, since Palm’s executive chairman is Jon Rubinstein, the former Apple executive who was behind the iPod.