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Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

flipagr.am

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Re: Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

#21

Post by jaxtrx »

They just recently acquired a trademark, now apple can do something...

Word Mark FLIPAGRAM Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer application software for mobile phones, portable media players, handheld computers, namely, software for transforming still photographs into video slideshows for sharing on internet social networks. FIRST USE: 20120607. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20120615 Standard Characters Claimed Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK Serial Number 86042264 Filing Date August 19, 2013 Current Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Owner (APPLICANT) Flipagram LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY CALIFORNIA 3853 Reklaw Drive Studio City CALIFORNIA 91604 Attorney of Record Craig O. Correll Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

Re: Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

#22

Post by [deleted] »

nashequilibrium wrote: post #20
Steko wrote: post #4

"On August 22nd, 2013..." "We were under the impression that Apple would protect us from being in a situation like this. " Frankly it sounds like you were under the impression that Apple is able to universally and fairly adjudicate all claims in less than 24 hours. That's silly. What if the fraudster complained about you and Apple acted too quickly and tossed your app? I mean sure your app was there first but in lots…

As developers and entrepreneurs we need to be more outraged about this and not start off attacking the victim and just adding compassion at the end of your comment. I really sympathize with this guy, the hard work you put in, the countless hours sacrificed and someone rips that from you. Even if it s for 5 minutes those minutes will feel like a really long time. This app should not have been approved in the first pla…

[deleted]

Re: Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

#23

Post by fnayr »

Thank God they ignored it. I've been developing apps on iOS for 3+ years and we get legal notices from Apple all the time that another company is trying to get our app shut down for completely frivolous reasons. If Apple put themselves as the arbiter of these disputes it would be horrible.

Re: Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

#24

Post by threeseed »

lyndonh wrote: post #8
Steko wrote: post #4

"On August 22nd, 2013..." "We were under the impression that Apple would protect us from being in a situation like this. " Frankly it sounds like you were under the impression that Apple is able to universally and fairly adjudicate all claims in less than 24 hours. That's silly. What if the fraudster complained about you and Apple acted too quickly and tossed your app? I mean sure your app was there first but in lots…

But surely Apple does a search of the App store for other products with the same name, as part of the submission process ? Another app with almost identical name and same icon from a different developer, red flag no ? How would the fraudster complain about a stolen app if the allegedly stolen app had been on the app store for a considerable time before the fraudster's app was submitted ?

It really isn't that simple.

How do you know which of the two apps has legal ownership of that name ? Or whether any of them do ?

Re: Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

#26

Post by threeseed »

bowlofpetunias wrote: post #13

Slightly off-topic, but how smart is it to build a startup that depends on not one but two platforms that can both unilaterally kill you at any moment? The product isn't even interesting enough for Instagram/Facebook to bother to buy the company if they wanted to add that particular feature. This isn't a startup, it's the virtual equivalent of a temporary pop-up store.

The funny (well not for them) is that Flipagram falls afoul of Instagram's new naming policy. So it looks like without the identification with Instagram the app/startup could well die.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/19/instagram-cracks-down-on-co...

Re: Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

#27

Post by kaliblack »

[deleted] wrote: post #22
nashequilibrium wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As developers and entrepreneurs we need to be more outraged about this and not start off attacking the victim and just adding compassion at the end of your comment. I really sympathize with this guy, the hard work you put in, the countless hours sacrificed and someone rips that from you. Even if it s for 5 minutes those minutes will feel like a really long time. This app should not have been approved in the first pla…

[deleted]

The article states that Apple replied and said they didn't intend to take action.

So, Apple approved a blatant rip off and then refused to remove it when requested. That's scary and outrageous.

Re: Someone's stealing our identity on Apple's App Store

#30

Post by jpttsn »

jaxtrx wrote: post #21

They just recently acquired a trademark, now apple can do something... Word Mark FLIPAGRAM Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer application software for mobile phones, portable media players, handheld computers, namely, software for transforming still photographs into video slideshows for sharing on internet social networks. FIRST USE: 20120607. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20120615 Standard C…

Perhaps in this case that's enough because the infringement is so blatant. Generally, I'd like to see any IP violations pass through the proper channels for deciding who's legally in the right.
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