I don't get it, does this involve actual paper?
A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
131–140 of 162 posts
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#132The world of app names is weirdly. Obviously you cannot put up an app named Facebook but most likely you can put one named FB Calculator. The way I see it, parts of an app name can be protected, others are generic. It is like subdomains: news.ycombinator.com cannot ask news.fiftythree.com to stop using news.
Anyhow, what's the name of that FB Android app that turns your phone's desktop into a FB desktop? Or was it iOS app? What exactly was it anyway? FB OS?
Don't worry Paper53, PaperFB is probably another fluke, a quick yet clumsy response to Medium's menacing growth, to the wall's irrelevance, to the teens running away....
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#133[deleted]
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was Wacom. Which was why Paper called themselves "Paper by 53".
Wacom seems to brand their product as Bamboo Paper. Was it always branded that way, or is it a reaction to 53/Facebook?
Sorry, wrong developer, same point. The actual developer name is Contradictory. Timeline:
(1) Contradictory made "Paper" (2) 53 made "Paper by 53", with the same function as "Paper" (just a lot better) (3) Facebook made "Paper - stories from Facebook"
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#135>There’s a simple fix here. We think Facebook can apply the same degree of thought they put into the app into building a brand name of their own.
It seems to me that both FB and 53 applied the same degree of thought.
IMHO, I find it absurd that private companies want to make common words their own. Couldn't the "degree of thought" 53 put into their naming process led them to think that "paper" was an extremely generic word and this conflict was bound to happen?
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#136People are going to call the app by Facebook "Facebook Paper" because "Paper" is simply too generic. 53's drawing app name is not strong either. Their iOS app is not called "Paper", but "Paper by FiftyThree". Their icon is not of paper, but of a napkin style rendering of "53". For all intents, the drawing simulation brand name is "FiftyThree". There was a brief moment in history when people thought "I wonder if 53 wa…
"Windows", "Apple", aren't too generic. This is perfectly reasonable for 53 to ask this of Facebook.
Apple Computer vs Apple Corps (music) "co-existed" (I know of the lawsuits and agreements) at the time because one was an electronics manufacturer, and the other a record label.
Paper (53) is a drawing app, Paper (FB) is a news/FB wall magazine. Completely different markets. They should be able to co-exist.
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#137Pfft. What a silly request. This is an entirely different application. Should we expect an upcoming blog post from 53 complaining that Crayola has released a new product entitled "Pencil"? If you want to protect your name, use a protectable name. If you're going to use an entirely generic name then deal with it... wait hang on... Dunder Mifflin just called... they want their name back too. Cool company, great product…
Insofar as FiftyThree is merely making a polite request as a matter of professional courtesy rather than threatening legal action, then I don't think your criticism applies. They didn't get nasty about it, they didn't cite some bizarre legal arguments where they claimed to forever own the word Paper. They just made a cordial request. I think that's entirely reasonable and makes them come across very good in this situ…
"a polite request" in the public... i think not
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#138Over here in Android land, there's no confusion at all, because neither app is in the Play Store. :P
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#139Honestly, I think we'll see more downloads of Paper (53) because of confused people looking to download Paper (FB). I see this is as a huge PR win for 53 and both will end up co-existing and succeeding (probably). There are TWO billion-dollar storage companies with Box in the name. Now that's confusing.
I don't know how often I hear at work "Put it in my dropbox", where "my dropbox", of course, refers to Box.com.
I did work on a project once where most of the contributors referred to Google Drive as their dropbox, as well.
Re: A letter from Paper (FiftyThree) to Paper (Facebook)
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
Making a cordial request about it to Facebook is one thing; publicizing it (probably in an effort to shame Facebook) is another.
There's a very real possibility that FiftyThree is going to get impacted in all kinds of searches because of this. I don't begrudge them for taking advantage of a marketing opportunity that will get written about in the media that they'd be fools to not take advantage of. Their business could conceivably be on the line. You're certainly free to disagree or feel all the sympathy you want to for Facebook here, but I do…
It could also have a positive effect by increasing the overall search volume for that term.