11 replies to this topic

[allex24]

That's unbelievable but after several days i published my first free app Crazy Asteroids i got a Google Play Trademark Notice:

"
This is a notification that we have removed the availability of the application, Crazy Asteroids, with package ID com.SOGNGAMES.CrazyAsteroids for Google Play users in the following locale(s): AT, BE, BG, CA, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HU, IE, IT, JP, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE, SI, SK, US, ZA

REASON FOR REMOVAL: Alleged trademark infringement.

Google has been notified that aspects of your application, Crazy Asteroids, allegedly infringe upon the trademarks of others, and it has been removed from the Google Play Store due to a violation of the Content Policy.

All violations are tracked. Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts.

You may contact Atari at us.legal@a***i.com . If A***i contacts us specifically authorizing your app to be re-published, and your app does not otherwise violate the Developer Distribution Agreement and Content Policy, we will reinstate the app.


Please note that we have included a text copy of the Infringement Notice we received for your reference. If you have any further concerns about this issue, please address them directly to the complainant in the Infringement Notice provided below.

The Google Play Team

Text Copy of Infringement Notice:
AutoDetectedBrowser: Google Chrome
AutoDetectedOS: Windows 7
IIILanguage: en
IssueType: lr_trademark
...
tm_swear: checked
tm_work: ASTEROIDS
your_title: General Counsel
"

So what's that mean, i really can't use word "asteroids" in the name of the game for mentioned countries, but there are a lot of games that use this word, wtf? I'm a little confused what to do now and in future with other games names. if you have any suggestions pls advice.

Edited by allex24, 26 June 2012 - 06:03 AM.

[Mr. RPG]

This doesn't really belong here, but that is pretty absurd.

I would file for some kind of appeal to that decision.

[TeamSteeve]

What a load of crap! Google trying to tell you that if you want your app reinstated that you should contact the ones that alleged you infringed their trademark.

Google seem don't seem to want to take responsibility for anything! Maybe you should allege that A***I is infringing on your copyright of Crazy Asteroids. It's a totally outrageous claim, but Google don't seem to care.

Good luck with an appeal. I'll be rooting for you (although I think you'll have little chance to get anywhere with Google).

EDIT: Oh hey, it's still available here in Australia.

Edited by TeamSteeve, 26 June 2012 - 06:44 AM.

[Nocturne]

Hmmm... That's a difficult one. Asteroids is a VERY famous game from Atari, and they take their copyright very seriously., but it is also a very common word that is used in the english language! However, I can be fairly sure that you will lose your appeal due to the fact that you are a small indie dev and Atari are a large multi-national with a historic claim on the name. Just change it to "Crazy Asteroid" and you are fine... and learn a valuable lesson from this! It's a dog eat dog world, and in the over-saturated games market you have to think about these things before publishing.

[Chronic]

Whats it mean? it means Atari's lawyers did their job and projected a copyright. If you want it republished you've obviously got some talking with them to do.

[allex24]

Hmmm... That's a difficult one. Asteroids is a VERY famous game from Atari, and they take their copyright very seriously., but it is also a very common word that is used in the english language! However, I can be fairly sure that you will lose your appeal due to the fact that you are a small indie dev and Atari are a large multi-national with a historic claim on the name. Just change it to "Crazy Asteroid" and you are fine... and learn a valuable lesson from this! It's a dog eat dog world, and in the over-saturated games market you have to think about these things before publishing.

Thanks for advice. I'll have to change it if no result from my appeal.

Edited by allex24, 26 June 2012 - 07:47 AM.

[WWAZman]

It's not actually a COPYRIGHT case, in this case it appears Atari has TRADEMARKED the word "Asteroids" for use in a video game sense. That means you can't use that name (and good to know).. you can argue, but I think the best use would be to clarify to Google, Atari, the squirrels etc, that this is your own game and nothing to do with Atari's, ... the best might be to come up with a similar sounding word like "meteors" or something, or go all Asimov and come up with a wholly new term!

At very least, APPEAL to Google!! Cooperate, contact them http://support.googl...=contact_policy and explain your situation. Work with them and see what can be done. Good luck!

[Mr. RPG]

It's not actually a COPYRIGHT case, in this case it appears Atari has TRADEMARKED the word "Asteroids" for use in a video game sense. That means you can't use that name (and good to know).. you can argue, but I think the best use would be to clarify to Google, Atari, the squirrels etc, that this is your own game and nothing to do with Atari's, ... the best might be to come up with a similar sounding word like "meteors" or something, or go all Asimov and come up with a wholly new term!

At very least, APPEAL to Google!! Cooperate, contact them http://support.googl...=contact_policy and explain your situation. Work with them and see what can be done. Good luck!

If I remember correctly, I read somewhere that Atari actually did file "Asteroids" as a trademark.

I think words like that shouldn't be trademarked.

[Orbitguy]

Yeah that's really lame. However, it's also possible that they never looked at your game but assumed that it was an asteroids clone. Such as someone calling a game Asteroids2. Still though it's not as if you posed a serious threat to their brand or profits lol.

[David Batty]

A friend of mine is a a barrister specializing in intellectual property, technology, media and entertainment and competition law. She is writing an article at the moment on the subject of copyright in computer games. When it is published I will post a link for all to read it.

In the meantime this might be of use in understanding copyright law as applied to computer games.

http://www.out-law.com/page-7896

[allex24]

Well, they told me to change title and all in-game graphics, titles and text and url and then they will inform google to republish it. Ok, i changed title and in-game graphics but to change url i need to delete current package and upload new, right? So nothing can be republished then, the best decision in this case i see to leave current package as is and upload new.

[Terrified Virus]

This is full of balogna.