I suspect the pattern of ABBREVIATION: Same Spelled Out
is too generic for an unoriginal abbreviation already in common use to be able to trademark it - just moving an existing idea to android shouldn't create new legal territory any more than moving one from bricks & mortar to the internet, but who knows... the legal system hasn't completely grasped that one yet either. JP wrote: > Consider a DMCA takedown notice. I am sure applicable forms and how-to > instructions are readily available in the Interwebs. Fill out, send to > the operator of Android Market, hope for the best. The operator of > YouTube is dealing with this on a daily basis. > > > On Sep 14, 12:02 pm, Flying Coder <av8r.st...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Dan, > > Thanks for the feedback. The app is "ICE: In Case of Emergency" > > and has been published on the Market since Feb 09 (at the time, it was > > the only ICE app for Android). Its currently one of the top-rated > > paid apps in the Health category. Its such a common phrase, that I > > wasn't expecting to be able to Trademark it, but I did expect the > > Market to require competitors to use names that were at least a LITTLE > > different. > > > > I discovered the copycat today when I got an email requesting > > technical support from someone who thought they had purchased my app, > > when in fact they had purchased the copycat's. > > > > Cheers, > > Steve > > > > On Sep 14, 1:58 pm, DanH <danhi...@ieee.org> wrote: > > > > > Do you have the app name trademark protected? > > > > > If you have been using the app name for some time (how long "some" is > > > depends) then you could claim it as your trademark. Simplest way to > > > do this is to simply place (tm) after the name. It's not nearly as > > > good as a registered trademark, but it carries some weight. > > > > > However, once a copycat has jumped on the name, it's harder to claim > > > your trademark, especially if you haven't used it very long. > > > > > And in any event you have to hire your own lawyer to go after the > > > copycat, and if he's in another country things get dicey real > > > quickly. (However, not vigorously defending your trademark against a > > > copycat causes you to lose any rights you do have very quickly.) > > > > > Do go to some effort (eg, preserve letters/invoices/etc) to establish > > > your "priority" on the name, so that a year from now the other guy > > > can't come along and sue YOU for trademark infringement. > > > > > (And it's probably worth the effort to send the other guy a cease-and- > > > desist letter. Probably would do no good, but it's cheap.) > > > > > I suppose if someone duplicates a name in the Android store then you > > > may have some recourse with store management, but it would be purely > > > at their discretion, especially given how hard it is to find a unique > > > name anymore. > > > > > (I wonder how many here even know how to copyright their work?) > > > > > On Sep 14, 12:41 pm, Flying Coder <av8r.st...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > Surely, this can't be allowed, can it? What recourse do I have? > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > Steve -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en