[tobr]

My first thought too. Wouldn’t Apple still own a trademark of some kind for this word?

[fredoralive]

Yep…

https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/trademark/...

[rvz]

And it does include the actual 'NextStep' trademark with the OP's product name 'NextStep' which is the exact same style:

> The absence of a product or service name or logo from this list does not constitute a waiver of NeXT’s trademark or other intellectual property rights concerning that name or logo.

If I were the OP, I would think of another name than to pay Apple for usage of the trademark and have to place 'NextStep is a trademark of Apple Inc.' like how Apple is paying for iOS with Cisco owning the IOS trademark.

[n8henry]

"Next Step" is a common phrase. Multiple companies currently have a live trademark for "NextStep."