It’s a David and Goliath story right here in Sydney as Apple comes down on an Aussie startup. In an article today in the age, Apple software developer Matthew Peterson explained that he might have to lay off half of his staff if the Apple’s legal threats against his product iPodRip hold. The iPodRip app is only one of many products coming out of Matthew’s company The Little App Factory, but it is the one that brings in the most income. Apple sent Matthew a cease and desist letter two weeks ago asking him to stop using “iPod” in his software’s name, remove any Apple-related logos from his product and relinquish control of his domain name, ipodrip.com. Matthew has already changed the name of the product, but worries that relinquishing the domain name could severely damage all the SEO the company has built. The Little App Factory is so distraught that they sent an email to the man himself Steve Jobs begging for a reprieve only to be answered with: “Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.”
This isn’t the first time a little Aussie company has come up against the big guys. Melbourne startup Envato quickly changed the name of its FlashDen site to ActiveDen after receiving a cease and desist letter from Adobe.
As a developer they should have known better. Professional Practice 101.
This is not a poor underdog news story (much as we Aussies love those), it’s a “sorry, you shouldn’t have done that in the first place” lesson. If you mess with trademarks in product or domain names, expect the owner to chase you.
The fact that Little App Factory built lots of SEO on a domain/name they’ll now lose is a case of bad judgement, nothing more. Wasting even more time on not just letting it go and getting on with business, would merely show lesson-not-learnt.
I’d hope that our little Aussie underdogs are smarter than that!
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