WTF Lawsuit of the Year: iFart v. Pull My Finger

Lonnie Lazar ()

fart-20081222.jpg

iFart Mobile, maker of a wildly popular app for iPhone and iPod Touch, asked a court on Friday to rule that it can use the term “pull my finger” without risking trademark infringement claims by another iPhone fart app named, …wait for it, Pull My Finger.

InfoMedia, which developed iFart Mobile, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in Colorado District Court naming rival Air-O-Matic as defendant after a lawyer from Air-O-Matic demanded $50,000 from InfoMedia for its use of the phrase, according to an InfoMedia blog post.

Apparently, Air-O-Matic first approached Apple with complaints that InfoMedia was guilty of unfair business practices and trademark infringement because it used the term “pull my finger” in a news release and YouTube promo video. Air-O-Matic also asked that iFart Mobile be removed from the iPhone App Store, but Apple told the companies to work it out among themselves, according to a report at Cnet.

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Early this year, iFart Mobile was one of the more popular titles on the AppStore, where there are currently over 75 fart-themed titles on offer. The bloom may be off the rose, however, as only iFart (99¢) Mobile and the free app Atomic Fart are in the top 100 downloads of either category.

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About the author

Lonnie Lazar

Lonnie Lazar is a writer-musician-web designer-attorney. He writes about Apple for Cult of Mac and Mac|Life, and about VoIP and telecommunications for Voxilla. Follow Lonnie on Twitter @LonnieLazar, join the Cult of Mac on Facebook, and find Lonnie's photos on Flickr.

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Posted in iPhone, iPod Touch, News, Software |

  • http://ONLINEGAMINGCASINO.ORG ONLINE GAMING CASINO

    This is the msot useless piece of fart I have seen!

  • fingerShminger

    I claim prior art– I’ve been using that phrase for decades! I will happily grant InfoMedia and Air-O-Matic free use of the phrase if they will simply agree to pull my finger.

  • http://jspr.tndy.me Jasper

    I hope there’s a point in everyone involved in that suit’s lives where they look back at this trial and see it as a low point. I mean, fair enough, you think someone ripped (no pun intended) your idea for a fart game, but it’s kinda ironic to take it that seriously!

  • Pietro

    What a pile of crap. It all stinks.

  • ruffio

    At the least, Apple should have tried to clear the air of this ugliness.

    (Ahem, sorry.)