And it should be noted, for other developers, that having any bit of "nonsense" in the name strengthens your claim to it. Eg, calling it "ICE: In Case of Emergency XL" would be much better, since it would be hard for someone to argue that the "XL" was generic. (Of course, "XL" doesn't really fit the "tone" of the app here, but you get the idea.)
On Sep 15, 1:36 pm, DanH <danhi...@ieee.org> wrote: > The distinction between what can be trademarked and what can't is a > fuzzy area. Generally, the more specialized the market, the less > "original" the trademark needs to be. "ICE: In Case of Emergency" > would, eg, almost certainly not be judged to be a trademark that would > allow the presumed holder for a phone app to claim infringement for, > say, a device that stores emergency info in the refrigerator. But > when one narrows the field down to phone apps, and then further > narrows the field down to Android, and then further goes back in > history a year or two to when Android was new and the total number of > apps as small (such that this particular app would be relatively well > known in the Android community) then the strength of the trademark > increases. > > On Sep 14, 9:07 pm, Chris Stratton <cs07...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > 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
