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Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

9gagforandroid.com

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Re: Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

#2

Post by avolcano »

So, naming the site "9GAG for Android" was asking for trouble. That's a clear-cut trademark issue, even if the app itself was named "Nine."

Content ownership is a little murkier, of course, because 9GAG is a company that thrives off stealing and rebranding the content of others. There's also no reason they couldn't have played ball - there's lots of alternative mobile clients for sites like Reddit and Hacker News because they create a healthier community and fill a niche that the creators of those sites can't fulfill. Still, if 9GAG decided they wanted the ad revenue this app would deprive them of, I can't really fault them.

(though, to be clear, I still totally fault them for being a shitty company that steals content!)

Re: Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

#3

Post by signed0 »

Seems like they are saying "Take down your app or we will complain to Google and have them take it down". If this is the case, what is the harm in leaving it in the Play Store and forcing them to jump through hoops?

If they do get it taken out of the Play Store, you could always provide the .apk for people to download.

Re: Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

#4

Post by ruqqq »

avolcano wrote: post #2

So, naming the site "9GAG for Android" was asking for trouble. That's a clear-cut trademark issue, even if the app itself was named "Nine." Content ownership is a little murkier, of course, because 9GAG is a company that thrives off stealing and rebranding the content of others. There's also no reason they couldn't have played ball - there's lots of alternative mobile clients for sites like Reddit and Hacker News bec…

Hey, I'm the creator of the app.

I can't deny the website domain is asking for trouble. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind taking it down, it's just a marketing stunt anyway because back then, they haven't have an official Android app.

What irks me is that they refuse to work together _at all_, and worst, their Android app is not up to standard.

But well, now that it has come to this, I will pivot to another service which has a healthier devs and community.

Re: Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

#5

Post by ruqqq »

signed0 wrote: post #3

Seems like they are saying "Take down your app or we will complain to Google and have them take it down". If this is the case, what is the harm in leaving it in the Play Store and forcing them to jump through hoops? If they do get it taken out of the Play Store, you could always provide the .apk for people to download.

True enough. But they can always send a legal time my way at the same time. As an indie developer, ain't nobody got time for that..

Re: Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

#8

Post by reion »

I did like how you were trying to handle the situation, it was really reasonable to try work something out. I am sad about their response to you, make me loss faith and proves that once they were successful, they just stopped caring. I would suggest you trying sending an other email with same approach to someone else higher up in company. From what i get Ray is guy in legal department, we don't know if he cares about user base and if he forwarded the email to someone else before he decided to deny you a way out.

Re: Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

#9

Post by nemothekid »

ruqqq wrote: post #4
avolcano wrote: post #2

So, naming the site "9GAG for Android" was asking for trouble. That's a clear-cut trademark issue, even if the app itself was named "Nine." Content ownership is a little murkier, of course, because 9GAG is a company that thrives off stealing and rebranding the content of others. There's also no reason they couldn't have played ball - there's lots of alternative mobile clients for sites like Reddit and Hacker News bec…

Hey, I'm the creator of the app. I can't deny the website domain is asking for trouble. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind taking it down, it's just a marketing stunt anyway because back then, they haven't have an official Android app. What irks me is that they refuse to work together _at all_, and worst, their Android app is not up to standard. But well, now that it has come to this, I will pivot to another service which h…

I'm not a fan on 9gag, but I can understand why they wouldn't want to work with you. There are many issues with just having some random guy - despite how good natured he is - in charge of your company's official app.

Re: Infringement of 9Gag's trademark [pdf]

#10

Post by signed0 »

ruqqq wrote: post #5
signed0 wrote: post #3

Seems like they are saying "Take down your app or we will complain to Google and have them take it down". If this is the case, what is the harm in leaving it in the Play Store and forcing them to jump through hoops? If they do get it taken out of the Play Store, you could always provide the .apk for people to download.

True enough. But they can always send a legal time my way at the same time. As an indie developer, ain't nobody got time for that..

In that case you could open source it and let people build their own apk.
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