Yeah someone else from GS had received an email on something similar, it's ridiculous. You can't copyright words like "Dash" or "doodle" and the makers of Doodle Jump tried pulling this crap months ago too.
They're trying to "scare" people with the lawyer jargon when in reality they can't do anything.
I would ask for the paperwork proving they own the TM to that "name" and until they provide it, you're not changing it.
How about informing some new sites about this? TA? Or maybe just on their forum. These people should get the same negative press as the Doodle Jump dorks.
can someone else smell bull...hmm.. mate i've seen the publicity your game has got and kudos to you... lets do something about this and make a stand... i say wait for a while maybe take some steps mentioned above..but all in all DON'T change your name until maybe apple requests or legally you have to... im sure all of us gamesaladers will provide you backing and im willing to back you up with written documents (maybe a letter of complaint) that i will send on behalf of you too all the major app sites... see how they like bad press..who's with me if this goes sour for Mago??
First off, an email is not even close to a legal document. Even I know that (and I'm a doctor).
Reads like a scare tactic to me. Until you get a "cease and desist" letter from an attorney you don't have anything to worry about.
Plus, they can't sue you for damages, because they wouldn't be able to support a claim that you damaged their "franchise," so lawsuits wouldn't make any sense because they would literally be spending money to get a court to say that you have to change your app's name.
Then, you change your app name to "Dashing ePig." :-)
I'm no lawyer, but I can't see any judge siding with them in a case like this. At my day job, we come up with logos and line names pretty often. The copyright office says they recommend using additional descriptive wording when submitting a line name for copyright because it's much more specific so there's no doubt about the identity. I think trying to copyright the word dash is going to prove very difficult for them if this something they are actually trying to do. But there's some crazy people out there trying to get away with anything, so I wouldn't put it past them.
And I doubt whether they could actually touch in you Chile. Plus if they want your app to be removed from the app store they would have to go through Apple first. I think they are just trying out scare tactics, not sure why. I guess some lawyer is there trying to justify why he's getting paid.
The ugliest part is that the game has absolutely nothing to do with 'dash' games. I like the idea of letting some news websites know, showing how evil this act is and give some publicity to e-pig dash fightging for their right against them
Man I'd feel like a dork writting that kind of email, at first I said change the name but you guys made me change my mind
AddictiveGames said: Don't change your name. Don't contact Apple. Don't waste money on Lawyers.
Simply email them back and say NO for the following reasons:
1) "Dash" is a verb that has been used in Games long before PlayFirst 2) There is no way your games can be confused 3) There are hundreds of other Apps using the Dash name 4) Your based in Chile 5) Your a 1-man indie developer with support from GS community and Press Contacts, any legal action would bad publicity for PlayFirst 6) The "Doodle" and "Ville" names have recently failed exclusivity requests on the Appstore, this is just the same.
DON'T CHANGE YOUR NAME. You have already done this once because of the confusion with the other Pig game which was the right thing to do but not this time. Don't be bullied or afraid of Playfirst. Don't change the name.
Many of my friends are lawyers, I own my own business, and I have dealt with law before. Everything that Addictive Games has said is completely true... They own the rights to many phrases with the word dash following them, but they do not own the phrase "ePig Dash." Even if they do have a trademark for the word dash, (which they can, think about Apple and their letter 'i') they still will not win this case. If this were to even get any bigger of a story than it is right now, and go to court, like others have said the judge will only through it out (mostly because it's about a name for a fricken iPhone app). Don't fall for anything they tell you and email as many news sites as possible (you might as well get publicity out of it, cause it is a great game). Do not, I repeat DO NOT fall for these stupid corporations trying to make all of the money in the world. I would be glad to email sites if you would like me too and report to them about this story. Also, if you are in Chile than they can't even legally sue you, so don't fall for it. Stay strong, and show them what indie developer's can do!!
Oliver Berning email: oberning1@yahoo.com (if you need to email me)
Comments
They're trying to "scare" people with the lawyer jargon when in reality they can't do anything.
I would ask for the paperwork proving they own the TM to that "name" and until they provide it, you're not changing it.
Will ask them for the LEgal documents, and ask a lawyer.
But I think this is the same as Doodle, and it is very difficult for them to win.
Cheers.
Reads like a scare tactic to me. Until you get a "cease and desist" letter from an attorney you don't have anything to worry about.
Plus, they can't sue you for damages, because they wouldn't be able to support a claim that you damaged their "franchise," so lawsuits wouldn't make any sense because they would literally be spending money to get a court to say that you have to change your app's name.
Then, you change your app name to "Dashing ePig." :-)
Man I'd feel like a dork writting that kind of email, at first I said change the name but you guys made me change my mind
Oliver Berning
email: oberning1@yahoo.com (if you need to email me)
"Dash" is such an obvious and common word,
how can it really be trademarked?
Boulder Dash - Great 80's "puzzle action" forerunner ;-)