Just a Tip for new-to-add Apps

[EeKay]

Hi people,

During the development cycle of my first app i had come across some stuff.
Of course there was the hassle of "forget to learn memory management stuff because of self-studying my way into idev" which made me rework my app two times.
Then there was the certificates hassle, followed by - last but not least - the admittance battle

But the one thing i didn't read anything about is the NAMING of your app...

I uploaded my app as "GroupMail" back in January (and posted info about it here: GroupMail - currently in review

But within two days i got an email from a company stating that Group Mail and everything with this text in it (group and mail together all the same) was being protected as a registered trademark.

With the contactperson asking me polite to change this name i Googled on Registering trademarks. i found the name GroupMail and changed the name in iGroupEmail. That did the trick.

Interesting, however, is the answer to the question: Is there a worldwide trademark?

No. However, it is possible to file one application for a group of countries such as:

1. The European Union, covering 15 countries in Europe;
2. The Madrid Protocol, covering several dozen countries; and
3. The Andean Pact, covering several South American countries.
Otherwise, one must seek trademark protection on a country-by-country basis.

My advice is to look for a suitable and trademark-free name in advance.
Save yourself the trouble of renaming or making a campaign 30% less effective because the name has to change...


A couple of sites to check names protected by trademarks:
US: Trademarks
Madrid Protocol: Madrid Express (Trademarks) Search

[substance21]

I figured out on my own after 2 weeks submitting it to the app store that my app name is trademarked. But I didn't want to delay my app processing in case they found any other problems so i just waited.
1.25 months after i first submitted, the app was approved. I'm not sure if the trademark part caused a delay (and that they figured it was OK) or that it was something completely different.

[johnqh]

A name doesn't have to be registered to be a valid trademark.

If you use a name, and people associate the name to your product, it is a trademark. This is basic IP law. That's the difference between "TM" and "R".

Check your local SBA for free classes. Normally they have classes on IP from time to time.

[zulfishah]

Thanks. Do you know if there already IS a trademark for your app name, can you buy it from the person who filed it? How much do people usually take for such things? And I don't mean buy "Star Wars" but something trivial and not famous.

Originally Posted by EeKay

Hi people,

During the development cycle of my first app i had come across some stuff.
Of course there was the hassle of "forget to learn memory management stuff because of self-studying my way into idev" which made me rework my app two times.
Then there was the certificates hassle, followed by - last but not least - the admittance battle

But the one thing i didn't read anything about is the NAMING of your app...

I uploaded my app as "GroupMail" back in January (and posted info about it here: GroupMail - currently in review

But within two days i got an email from a company stating that Group Mail and everything with this text in it (group and mail together all the same) was being protected as a registered trademark.

With the contactperson asking me polite to change this name i Googled on Registering trademarks. i found the name GroupMail and changed the name in iGroupEmail. That did the trick.

Interesting, however, is the answer to the question: Is there a worldwide trademark?

No. However, it is possible to file one application for a group of countries such as:

1. The European Union, covering 15 countries in Europe;
2. The Madrid Protocol, covering several dozen countries; and
3. The Andean Pact, covering several South American countries.
Otherwise, one must seek trademark protection on a country-by-country basis.

My advice is to look for a suitable and trademark-free name in advance.
Save yourself the trouble of renaming or making a campaign 30% less effective because the name has to change...


A couple of sites to check names protected by trademarks:
US: Trademarks
Madrid Protocol: Madrid Express (Trademarks) Search

[EeKay]

Originally Posted by zulfishah

Thanks. Do you know if there already IS a trademark for your app name, can you buy it from the person who filed it? How much do people usually take for such things? And I don't mean buy "Star Wars" but something trivial and not famous.

I checked the sites i mentioned in my post and verified that the person was right. I doubt however that a fully settled company which uses the productname will sell it any time soon. Why risk losing potential customers to someone else?

I think things would be very pricy, if the company is actually thinking of selling the name at all.