4 ms·

Trademark and copyright are not the same. This is a trademark issue. Also, not every name containing a trademark is a trademark violation; for instance, while

Trademark and copyright are not the same. This is a trademark issue. Also, not every name containing a trademark is a trademark violation; for instance, while "UberCheats" violates the trademark on "Uber", a name like "Watcher for Uber" would not be. The general "XYZ for Trademark" as a descriptive phrase tends to sidestep trademark issues. But on the other hand, renaming it "RideshareCheats" would sidestep the legal issue entirely and also open the door to generalizing it to cover other such services.

koolba 6y ago
To prevent possible defamation lawsuits, you're even better off going with a positive sounding name like: Fair Fare Share
- sep_field 6y ago
  thats a super catchy name!
  - koolba 6y ago
    Ha! Maybe I should start a marketing company.
xtracto 6y ago
But why would it? If I call it "HuevoCheats" would it violate some US company's trademark called "Huevo" when Huevo is a valid word in Spanish?
- Jaxkr 6y ago
  Whether or not a word appears in a dictionary has no bearing on its enforceability as a trademark. Ultimately it’s up to the courts to decide. If your app could reasonably be confused for an official product of “Huevo” corp, it would constitute trademark infringement.
  - Retric 6y ago
    It’s very unlikely for anyone in the marketplace to believe “UberCheats” is made by Uber or cause confusion in the marketplace. As such they are unlikely to win a court case, a Google internal process on the other hand is another story.
- chrismcb 6y ago
  If someone has a trademark, in software, for the word huevo... Then possibly. Microsoft had trademarks on the word "word" as well as "windows" In this case though, the suit is winnable as i think you can prove no one is confused between UberEats and Uber heats. But honestly it isn't worth the hassle. The best solution is to change the name.
- unishark 6y ago
  If you literally sell huevos as your business there may be a problem. Otherwise, as the other poster says, it's just about avoiding confusion. There can be Bob's Hardware and Bob's Grocery store as separate trademarks.
stefan_ 6y ago
No one has established any trademark violation. All we have are a bunch of angry emails and Google doing judge, jury and executioner in response.
- random5634 6y ago
  How did Google prevent UberCheats from litigating this issue? If UberCheats don't think they infringe the UberEats or other trademarks, they can litigate the issue normally. In this case Google served as the judge how? This looks like a pretty clear trademark violation! Rideshare Cheat Monitor for Uber would be MUCH safer than resuing an extremely similar sounding name. Or just RiderCheat Monitor. Given they don't think their name is similar to UberEats / Uber, it makes me wonder whether they are scam of some sort as well.
  - curryst 6y ago
    There are 2 separate issues that you're conflating. The first is whether UberCheats infringes on Ubers trademark. I agree with you, this strikes me as infringement. The second issue is who decides whether it's infringing or not. I don't think Google should be calling that, the takedown should come from a court with the authority to make such orders. Basically Google is turning into Team America: World Police, and I don't like that route. It's not that I think they should keep the name, it's just scary that once again, Google has completely fucked up someone's life without any kind of legal order.
    - random5634 6y ago
      For the trademark infringement (UberEats vs UberCheats etc), if they don't think google or the person complaining (Uber) has it right, they can still absolutely go to court, and get a declaratory judgement. That's what they should do - they make lots of (what look like total BS) claims that they don't infringe, go to court and you will get an order that UberCheats does not sound similar, look similar or involve same product area (on demand delivery / transport) as UberEats etc and that they have the right to use the name and are not trading on the UberEats and other Uber product brand recognition. Good luck with that case by the way. The platforms don't have a lot of confidence in the timeliness of claim resolution through the court process, they have 10's to 100's of thousands of issues to address weekly. Trademark ripoff apps, apps ripping off copyright, content issues (child abuse / apps that promote violence). Waiting for legal orders on any of this would be time consuming and costly. So we are clear, courts take YEARS to resolve these things. They also operate globally. Developers in Israel and Egypt and the EU and the US. Cross border legal enforcement through the courts is very hard at scale currently and there are political differences as well. My own sense, if govt provided more timely, effective and accurate relief and determinations, folks would be more comfortable with court involvement. But at least on commercial side, given both the politization of courts (which makes rulings both unpredictable and highly variable based on judges involved) and the delays in the process there is just an understanding that to maintain functional ecosystems the platform owners need to take a more hands on approach. I'm in another field where basically everything has gone to arbitration agreements without exception because the court process is just broken for resolutions on larger scales. Companies are getting very careful on this. "If a subscriber/enrollee doesn't agree to arbitration, will Kaiser Permanente decline enrollment? A: Yes. If a subscriber/enrollee does not agree to arbitration, they (and their dependents) will NOT be able to enroll in a Kaiser Permanente plan." So this is extending to nonprofits as well. What's really interesting is business to business (ie, both parties roughly similar negotiating authority) also going to arbitration. The big issue on the business side though is arbs tend to split awards (it's a safe call) rather than just destroying one person even if the case calls for that, and there is no appeal (which business doesn't like, they want at least one other crack at the apple).

koolba 6y ago

To prevent possible defamation lawsuits, you're even better off going with a positive sounding name like: Fair Fare Share

sep_field 6y ago
thats a super catchy name!
- koolba 6y ago
  Ha! Maybe I should start a marketing company.

xtracto 6y ago

But why would it? If I call it "HuevoCheats" would it violate some US company's trademark called "Huevo" when Huevo is a valid word in Spanish?

Jaxkr 6y ago
Whether or not a word appears in a dictionary has no bearing on its enforceability as a trademark. Ultimately it’s up to the courts to decide. If your app could reasonably be confused for an official product of “Huevo” corp, it would constitute trademark infringement.
- Retric 6y ago
  It’s very unlikely for anyone in the marketplace to believe “UberCheats” is made by Uber or cause confusion in the marketplace. As such they are unlikely to win a court case, a Google internal process on the other hand is another story.
chrismcb 6y ago
If someone has a trademark, in software, for the word huevo... Then possibly. Microsoft had trademarks on the word "word" as well as "windows" In this case though, the suit is winnable as i think you can prove no one is confused between UberEats and Uber heats. But honestly it isn't worth the hassle. The best solution is to change the name.
unishark 6y ago
If you literally sell huevos as your business there may be a problem. Otherwise, as the other poster says, it's just about avoiding confusion. There can be Bob's Hardware and Bob's Grocery store as separate trademarks.

stefan_ 6y ago

No one has established any trademark violation. All we have are a bunch of angry emails and Google doing judge, jury and executioner in response.

random5634 6y ago
How did Google prevent UberCheats from litigating this issue? If UberCheats don't think they infringe the UberEats or other trademarks, they can litigate the issue normally. In this case Google served as the judge how? This looks like a pretty clear trademark violation! Rideshare Cheat Monitor for Uber would be MUCH safer than resuing an extremely similar sounding name. Or just RiderCheat Monitor. Given they don't think their name is similar to UberEats / Uber, it makes me wonder whether they are scam of some sort as well.
- curryst 6y ago
  There are 2 separate issues that you're conflating. The first is whether UberCheats infringes on Ubers trademark. I agree with you, this strikes me as infringement. The second issue is who decides whether it's infringing or not. I don't think Google should be calling that, the takedown should come from a court with the authority to make such orders. Basically Google is turning into Team America: World Police, and I don't like that route. It's not that I think they should keep the name, it's just scary that once again, Google has completely fucked up someone's life without any kind of legal order.
  - random5634 6y ago
    For the trademark infringement (UberEats vs UberCheats etc), if they don't think google or the person complaining (Uber) has it right, they can still absolutely go to court, and get a declaratory judgement. That's what they should do - they make lots of (what look like total BS) claims that they don't infringe, go to court and you will get an order that UberCheats does not sound similar, look similar or involve same product area (on demand delivery / transport) as UberEats etc and that they have the right to use the name and are not trading on the UberEats and other Uber product brand recognition. Good luck with that case by the way. The platforms don't have a lot of confidence in the timeliness of claim resolution through the court process, they have 10's to 100's of thousands of issues to address weekly. Trademark ripoff apps, apps ripping off copyright, content issues (child abuse / apps that promote violence). Waiting for legal orders on any of this would be time consuming and costly. So we are clear, courts take YEARS to resolve these things. They also operate globally. Developers in Israel and Egypt and the EU and the US. Cross border legal enforcement through the courts is very hard at scale currently and there are political differences as well. My own sense, if govt provided more timely, effective and accurate relief and determinations, folks would be more comfortable with court involvement. But at least on commercial side, given both the politization of courts (which makes rulings both unpredictable and highly variable based on judges involved) and the delays in the process there is just an understanding that to maintain functional ecosystems the platform owners need to take a more hands on approach. I'm in another field where basically everything has gone to arbitration agreements without exception because the court process is just broken for resolutions on larger scales. Companies are getting very careful on this. "If a subscriber/enrollee doesn't agree to arbitration, will Kaiser Permanente decline enrollment? A: Yes. If a subscriber/enrollee does not agree to arbitration, they (and their dependents) will NOT be able to enroll in a Kaiser Permanente plan." So this is extending to nonprofits as well. What's really interesting is business to business (ie, both parties roughly similar negotiating authority) also going to arbitration. The big issue on the business side though is arbs tend to split awards (it's a safe call) rather than just destroying one person even if the case calls for that, and there is no appeal (which business doesn't like, they want at least one other crack at the apple).