Trademarks

[GomiGirl]

Got a letter from a company saying that we are infringing on their world wide trademarks - for the name and image of a historical figure - a famous physicist.

We were not the only ones using the name or image as there seems to be about 100 apps or more that come up using the same keyword search. The letter was to Apple covering all of these apps and we were not singled out at all.

This is a title that was originally in paper form and we have just converted it to an iPhone app and used their original artwork and name (in Katakana and English). We have alerted the publisher as to this development to see if they have any comments on this as the book has been in print for some time.

Any legal eagles out there with some recommendations on the use of trademarks. Is it generally just a no-go or if we follow some sort of protocols or use the TM mark, we will satisfy the owner of the trademark.

I have written to the company that sent the take down letter asking if they had a usage policy. They are associated with Corbis Gallery and they are extremely litigious so I want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

[gaijinpunch]

Late, but I'll chime in. I'm no legal eagle, but I do know something that can get rather nasty. They can basically litigate you to death assuming you have some interests in their country, and from your post, it sounds like it is likely they do that.

Is it the actual name of your app? I'm afraid if so, it's probably not pretty. You could always change the spelling.