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iPhone Developer Legal Guide
v. 2.0/Spring 2010
By Miguel Danielson, Esq.
The iPhone App Store has been a boon to many smaller software developers. With the right
idea, even a minimal development effort can result in significant marketplace success. And
because Apple handles all distribution and revenue collection for iPhone Apps, many developers
have quickly and easily found themselves managing a small software empire, along with many
of the accompanying legal issues and risks. This article will highlight some of the most common
intellectual property related legal issues that are of concern to iPhone developers. By ensuring
that each of these issues has been considered and, if necessary, handled in concert with skilled
legal counsel, an iPhone app developer will be well on the way to avoiding the most common
and costly legal mistakes.
Choosing an application name
Selecting an appropriate name for a new software product is always a challenge. While it may
seem attractive to choose a name that describes some aspect of the software, such names are
much less distinctive and therefore much less valuable and harder to protect as trademarks. This
is true because trademark law generally does not protect words or phrases that merely describe
the products they are used with -- the theory is that others in the industry should have a fair
chance to use such words to describe their own products. Choosing a unique name that is not
descriptive is job one in establishing your trademark rights.
Equally important as picking a distinctive and non-descriptive name is choosing a name that is
not similar to any other trademarks currently in use. Just how similar or dissimilar one
trademark may permissibly be in comparison to another trademark depends on numerous factors.
Most important among these factors are the similarity of the marks and the similarity of the
goods or services offered in connection with each mark. You should rethink your application’s
name if there is already a similarly named application in the App Store. Furthermore, a search
for potential trademark problems should not end at the App Store. The US Patent and
Trademark Office hosts a database of trademarks that are either registered or the subject of a
pending application (see Resources section, below), and of course Google or another search
engine can be a powerful tool for finding existing trademarks. For any application that you
intend to develop as something more than a casual hobby, the best approach is to seek legal help
in clearing a trademark. Experienced trademark attorneys can provide thorough searching
capabilities and will be able to tell you what the results of such searching mean in terms of your
legal risk profile.
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手机用户29463173222014-08-16软件虽小，但的确好神！
