Anyone know if it is legal to use the word "iPhone" as part of an URL?

xyloFUN

Hi,
I am thinking of registering a domain for one of me upcoming apps and wonder if I can use the word iphone or ipad as part of the URL?

I know that there are plenty of web sites out there who do that to offer tutorials etc ...

What's the deal here?

Apple is pretty picky and I don't want to step on their toes .... that would not be smart ;-)

SlickZero

That's a good question. Personally, I would avoid it, but you never know.

I wonder if those others ever get a C&D letter from Apple. They don't even like people using the word "touch" in their names.

xyloFUN

SlickZero said:
That's a good question. Personally, I would avoid it, but you never know.

I wonder if those others ever get a C&D letter from Apple. They don't even like people using the word "touch" in their names.

Registering only costs $4.95 per name so it's not a big loss should apple issues such order but on the other side, it advertises their product .... Not that they need it!

The other day I saw that someone uses the phrase "little composers" on their web site prominently and I was happy because if people remember that and google it, they will always find me first.

Again, with apple that is not the case because they need to control every aspect of the branding.

Anyone else?

jamesmunro2

FYI ... I was using adwords (google) to advertise a bit. (I got $100 free advertising in the mail for some reason, so I thought I'd give it a try.) I was not able to include the word "iPhone" apps in my description. It sent it to be reviewed. for trademark infringement. I erased the ad and reworded it as "iApp" and it went through without a problem.

I don't know if they would have approved the ad or not after review, but I was just experimenting so I didn't wait to find out.

FYI also ... not cost effective to bid 50 cents for clicks to sell a 99 cent iphone app (lol) ... unless you get $100 in free advertising.

xyloFUN

i think that one day, there will be an .app extension (as in .com) and then we can all scramble to buy our names

When I refereed to google ads, I was just stating that i see little variety on my pages ... the same images load many times.

I would never use that service to sell a 99 cent app ... as you say, NOT cost effective!

As things are now, a good looking blond in an well made youtube flick goes a long way!

tenrdrmer

jamesmunro2 said:
FYI ... I was using adwords (google) to advertise a bit. (I got $100 free advertising in the mail for some reason, so I thought I'd give it a try.) I was not able to include the word "iPhone" apps in my description. It sent it to be reviewed. for trademark infringement. I erased the ad and reworded it as "iApp" and it went through without a problem.

I don't know if they would have approved the ad or not after review, but I was just experimenting so I didn't wait to find out.

FYI also ... not cost effective to bid 50 cents for clicks to sell a 99 cent iphone app (lol) ... unless you get $100 in free advertising.

I dont see how it would be trademark infringement unless you implied it was made my Apple. Because every piece of software on earth says what operating system it uses and any hardware requirements.

So saying it for iPhone/iPod Touch or iOS app I don't see how that wouldn't be ok. I've also seen a lot of sites with iPhone in the URL name so dont know if it's allowed or not. again its prob depends on the usage

xyloFUN

actually,
i just tested to see if it is still available ... and it's not

.... would have been great ... but, if it wasn't for the the word "if", i'd be a lotto millionaire!