Last week Apple acquired the iPad trademark from Fujitsu, about two months after they launched iPad. Three years ago they acquired the iPhone trademark from Cisco, about a month after they launched iPhone.

Yikes. Any armchair lawyer could tell you this isn’t the ideal way to go about securing a product name. Once you’ve launched, your negotiating position pretty much evaporates.

So which is it? Does Apple have an incredible knack for getting itself into dicey situations? Or does it simply have a backbone?

The truth is, Apple often succeeds because it is willing to stand up for what it wants. Sometimes that requires going up against other companies. Other times, it likely involves going up against its own lawyers — who surely wouldn’t advise launching a product without first securing the name.

Steve Jobs has a refreshing attitude about lawyers. He listens to them carefully, and then he makes a decision based on many factors, including his long-term vision and short-term marketing goals. He wants to understand the risk, but he will decide if the risk is worth it. And oftentimes it is.

This just doesn’t happen in most places. Certainly not on such a visible level. When a company’s legal department issues a ruling, it’s all over. And since it’s the lawyers’ job to keep the company out of the courts, their opinions are invariably conservative. Some of the feistiest clients I’ve known would never dream of pushing back against the lawyers — even if it’s to discuss the wording of a legal disclaimer.

I can’t imagine IBM, Dell, Intel or any technology company exposing themselves to lawsuits over a product name. It’s unthinkable. But that’s exactly the kind of thing Apple does think about. Over and over, they prove that a little backbone can go a long way.