Park Bench Software has fallen afoul of CBS over the former’s Star Trek inspired diagnostic application, DiagnosticPADD, which uses an interface lifted from the PADD device used by the crew members of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
It’s worth noting that while Park Bench Software never cites Star Trek in the app or the app description, it appears that CBS is well within its rights here to force the removal of DiagnosticPADD from the App Store. After all, they own the trademark on PADD, and the applications’ interface is clearly modeled after the LCARS computer interface, which CBS has a copyright for.
That said, it’s rather sad that CBS decided to go the C&D route here when they could have just had a conversation with Park Bench Software and licensed them to release an officially sanctioned Star Trek version of DiagnosticPADD. Surely that would have been a better version for everyone: CBS, Park Bench and the fans.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
20 responses to “CBS Forces Developer To Pull Star Trek Inspired App”
No offense to fans but YIKES! Really?! In this day and age of re-imagined and rebooted sci-fi staples, why not update LCARS to something a little more 21st century looking while still paying homage to its nerdy past? I think I would rather be caught naked with a bowl of Jello and Robert Prescott than THAT on my iPad. How embarrassing!
Dang! I would have bought that in a second. Of course, I spent loads of time in college hanging a coat hanger covered in tin foil out of my dorm window to get good enough signal to watch STNG.
Bummer. Loved that look! http://www.repairzoom.com
Josh
CBS greed trumps fans adulation. But where the popularity come from? Oh, the fans. Wakeup CBS the hand that feeds you has memory.
They own the rights to LCARS? LCARS doesn’t exist. How can you own the rights to something that is not real? So does CBS own the rights to a shirt that says Star Trek?
They have the rights to the design. If fact I believe they have a trademark not copyright on it. Which means they have to block use or they lose their rights.
And they were very nice to send a cease and desist letter and not just serve a lawsuit.
And as a designer that has done a few interface systems for shows and movies, I don’t think CBS or anyone else should be forced to license their works. These guys should do as we did, create your own
I’m REALLY impressed that someone had the foresight to copyright/trademark this stuff. I wonder if they trademarked Positronic Brain? While the C&D may seem a bit heavy handed, it’s probably a lot cheaper and clearer in the long run. And they’d never get enough in licensing fees to even pay to draw up the contracts to protect their property, so they wouldn’t bother.
While I’m used to it, I still don’t grasp why so many people think it’s unreasonable when a mega company protects its intellectual property, but scream to the hills when the same companies infringe on someone else’s work.
I don’t even like this design – don’t care if it’s from Star Trek or The Bible – it’s crappy.
But forcing a dev to pull the app just because of the design ? This is silly.
They did the right thing. They are protecting something that was part of their intellectual property. – on top of that who would want to partner with a company that doesn’t acknowledge that in the first place? It was stupid for them to even use it.
In general I am looking forward to seeing how intellectual property is protected in the years to come as the pop-trend of App development ages and we shift out of this grey area. Right now, people are using other peoples properties like its no big deal and profiting from it in the app stores. I cant understand how this slips under the radar most of the time.
The owners of Star Trek–first Paramount, now CBS–nave never been displayed any intelligence when it comes to understanding that product, it’s fans and how to market to them and to use the fan creations to the company’s benefit. They generally do themselves more harm than good by biting the hand that feeds them (gives them money, in other words) than figuring out how to use the fans to help the company turn a profit. The licensing idea would have cost CBS nothing and yet potentially made them some money.
Keep in mind–CBS is the network that originally turned down Star Trek (it aired on NBC) because CBS had an “intelligent” science fiction show they preferred: “Lost In Space”.
Need we say anything more?