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They told me I was infringing 4 years later... when there are numerous apps in the store doing the same. It's also a cleaner that works only of Facebook. Google

They told me I was infringing 4 years later... when there are numerous apps in the store doing the same. It's also a cleaner that works only of Facebook. Google reviewed it and approved it 4 years ago. The extension is free. There is no advertising. I don't make any profit. I was never told what to do or how to change it so that my users would still recognize it. Also changing its name in "Cleaner - For Facebook" was suggested (and accepted) for the Safari extension by the Safari Gallery Team. If I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I can't fix it. This is not about TM infringement, but the total lack of communication by Google. Thing is that they basically told me I can't do anything if the original complainant gives his go-ahead ... after 3 months of canned responses. (I'm the author of the post).

user8341116 10y ago
I got pulled over for speeding once, all I did was lean out the window and say, hey officer, what gives? Everyone else was going the same speed as me? He said yeah you're right, have a good one! Actually that didn't happen because that's not the way the world works.
- chris_wot 10y ago
  How did the officer have the legal right to pull you over? Why, because you broke the law as it is codified. Google haven't codified anything, and actively allow apps to do what they selectively disallow on only certain apps. I'm surprised you can't see the difference!
  - DannyBee 10y ago
    I can't see the difference either because it makes no sense. First, they only need probable cause to pull you over, you don't actually have to have broken the law. So the analogy is pretty broken, because the police already can do the thing you don't want google doing :). It's also civil vs criminal, so ... Second, the law is codified, why do you think it was taken down? Google received a trademark complaint. A complaint someone broke the law. This is like going down to the police station and filing a complaint. As for "actively allow", that's silly. They aren't ignoring trademark complaints about the others, they just didn't get any. I'm sure if someone filed complaints, they'd take those down too.
    - chris_wot 10y ago
      So Apple are wilfully breaking trademark law? Give me a break...
DannyBee 10y ago
"They told me I was infringing 4 years later... " Laches is only a defense if facebook knows and it took 4 years. Even then, caselaw suggests 4 years is the minimum you'd ever get to complain about. "Google reviewed it and approved it 4 years ago." Not sure of the relevance to the first sentence. It's not the same folks. "I was never told what to do or how to change it so that my users would still recognize it. Also changing its name in "Cleaner - For Facebook" was suggested (and accepted) for the Safari extension by the Safari Gallery Team. If I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I can't fix it. " I'm honestly not sure what you expect here. Google doesn't know what's going to make the other guy stop complaining, and if the other guys complains, they have liability. I expect this is why they directed you to contact the complainant. Google really can't say or do anything here without risking legal liability, unless the other guy basically says "yeah, we don't care anymore". So they aren't. You can't expect Google to offer you legal advice on how to fix this, that's just silly. Note that contrary to whatever you think - you have recourse here, even if facebook ignores you (i assume you called the complaining place on the phone instead of just emailing folks) You could go get a declaratory judgement that your app is not trademark infringing. If you did this, and google ignored that, i think you'd have a reasonable argument here.
- pas 10y ago
  What's the process for this? Is this something like the DMCA safe-harbor provision? Isn't it something like? Facebook cries to Google. Google notifies Developer. Developer contests trademark infrigement. Google notifies Facebook of contestation. Google at this point provided the venue for dispute (so complied with the safe-harbor "doctrine"), now Facebook can escalate to proper courts.
- zenopopovici 10y ago
  I have a reasonable argument, but you're not listening. So I'm just going to stop writing. If you're a developer there needs to be an explanation and a mediation if a conflict occurs. This is how business is handled everywhere. I am a developer that helps promote their business. There is no where to call no where to write and to get a human on the other side. There is no appeal.

user8341116 10y ago

I got pulled over for speeding once, all I did was lean out the window and say, hey officer, what gives? Everyone else was going the same speed as me? He said yeah you're right, have a good one! Actually that didn't happen because that's not the way the world works.

chris_wot 10y ago
How did the officer have the legal right to pull you over? Why, because you broke the law as it is codified. Google haven't codified anything, and actively allow apps to do what they selectively disallow on only certain apps. I'm surprised you can't see the difference!
- DannyBee 10y ago
  I can't see the difference either because it makes no sense. First, they only need probable cause to pull you over, you don't actually have to have broken the law. So the analogy is pretty broken, because the police already can do the thing you don't want google doing :). It's also civil vs criminal, so ... Second, the law is codified, why do you think it was taken down? Google received a trademark complaint. A complaint someone broke the law. This is like going down to the police station and filing a complaint. As for "actively allow", that's silly. They aren't ignoring trademark complaints about the others, they just didn't get any. I'm sure if someone filed complaints, they'd take those down too.
  - chris_wot 10y ago
    So Apple are wilfully breaking trademark law? Give me a break...

DannyBee 10y ago

"They told me I was infringing 4 years later... " Laches is only a defense if facebook knows and it took 4 years. Even then, caselaw suggests 4 years is the minimum you'd ever get to complain about. "Google reviewed it and approved it 4 years ago." Not sure of the relevance to the first sentence. It's not the same folks. "I was never told what to do or how to change it so that my users would still recognize it. Also changing its name in "Cleaner - For Facebook" was suggested (and accepted) for the Safari extension by the Safari Gallery Team. If I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I can't fix it. " I'm honestly not sure what you expect here. Google doesn't know what's going to make the other guy stop complaining, and if the other guys complains, they have liability. I expect this is why they directed you to contact the complainant. Google really can't say or do anything here without risking legal liability, unless the other guy basically says "yeah, we don't care anymore". So they aren't. You can't expect Google to offer you legal advice on how to fix this, that's just silly. Note that contrary to whatever you think - you have recourse here, even if facebook ignores you (i assume you called the complaining place on the phone instead of just emailing folks) You could go get a declaratory judgement that your app is not trademark infringing. If you did this, and google ignored that, i think you'd have a reasonable argument here.

pas 10y ago
What's the process for this? Is this something like the DMCA safe-harbor provision? Isn't it something like? Facebook cries to Google. Google notifies Developer. Developer contests trademark infrigement. Google notifies Facebook of contestation. Google at this point provided the venue for dispute (so complied with the safe-harbor "doctrine"), now Facebook can escalate to proper courts.
zenopopovici 10y ago
I have a reasonable argument, but you're not listening. So I'm just going to stop writing. If you're a developer there needs to be an explanation and a mediation if a conflict occurs. This is how business is handled everywhere. I am a developer that helps promote their business. There is no where to call no where to write and to get a human on the other side. There is no appeal.