There are about fifty hundred billion apps in the App Store. Some of them are really amazing, while others are just shoddy ripoffs of other successful apps.
Getting an app removed from the App Store because it copies some key parts of your app has been a hassle for developers, but Apple just released a new tool that streamlines the process to dispute apps that may be guilty of copyright or trademark infringement.
Developers can find the new tool right here. It’s pretty basic. Developers insert all their information, provide the link to the offending apps, then select how the app is being disputed and then provide a description of the issue.
Once a dispute has been filled out and sent to Apple, you get a reference number for the dispute and the App Store Legal Team will contact both parties to help them resolve the dispute. The tool won’t eliminate the copycat apps that pervade the App Store, but hopefully the process of disputing them will now be a lot quicker for developers and discourage scammers and copycats in the longrun.
Source: Ars Technica
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
2 responses to “Apple Now Has A Tool For Developers To Dispute App Ripoffs”
This is getting stupid. Let app develop whatever. If it’s fun app, it’s fun. If it’s useful app, it’s useful. Why all this patent stuff? Just because Apple got their fruity designs patented and won the case, doesn’t make them all high and mighty.
Glad to see Apple’s making some progress towards getting rid of rip-offs.