Ravensburger Lowers Ban Hammer On Apple For Trademark Infringement – Developers Beware!

So have you noticed the ton of memory match games available for download in the App Store? From the “vanilla” titled Memory app to more “exotic” titles like Beer Memory, Sexy Memory, Christmas Memory and Monsters Memory … Apple sells just about every memory game flavor.

Ban-Hammer Uh, make that past tense … Apple SOLD just about every memory game flavor. Seems there is a big ol’ German company called Ravensburger who owns the registered trademark “Memory”. A year after the App Store went live, the bad ass folks at Ravensburger finally decided they had seen enough and sent Apple notice. Dated 8/13/09, Ravensburger Digital GmbH (a subsidiary of Ravensburger) sent Apple a 4-page letter informing them of the trademark violation, requesting Apple remove the offending applications … and on a final note, inviting Apple to explore a possible partnership with Ravensburger.

Ravensburger – “You will certainly understand that our company cannot and will not tolerate the unauthorized use by third parties of its trademark Memory®, for designating games and toys as being offered, inter-alia, in your company’s highly popular iTunes store. We therefore kindly invite you to take the appropriate measures to remove from your platform those products offered under the designations which interfere with the trademark rights of our parent company and to confirm that his has been effected in due course.”

(complete letter can be downloaded HERE)

logo_ravensburger_FINAL   Toy Story Memory FINAL

Similar to the app approval process, it seems Apple did not act quick or effective enough for Ravensburger. Two months after initial contact, on 10/15/09, Ravensburger emailed Apple that they found a large number of sellers who are still offering apps using their registered trademark “Memory” and new “illegal” memory apps being approved by Apple. Ravensburger even attached an Excel spreadsheet of sellers who were still in violation.

Ravensburger – “In accordance to German law you are obliged to make sure that products offered on your internet platform are not infringing our rights in the trademark “memory” … You have not complied are you are still not complying with your obligations under German law … As a final attempt to avoid a legal conflict, we hereby ultimately ask you to remove from your platform all applications using our trademark “memory” as listed in the file attached hereto no later than October 22, 2009. Should we still find one of the infringing applications after October 22 on your platform, we do not see any other possibility than to immediately take the appropriate steps.”

Well that finally got Apple’s attention. Emails from AppStoreNotices@apple.com went flying. The initial email requested sellers to fix the problem because pursuant to the agreement with Apple, sellers are responsible for any liability to Apple because of a rights infringement claim. A second email, dated 10/29/09, served as a blunt reminder to sellers who did not previously comply:

Apple – “Ravensburger has advised that this matter is still not resolved … Please contact Ravensburger immediately regarding this issue … If the matter is not resolved shortly, Apple will pull your app from the App Store.”

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Developers we spoke to were surprised by their infringement (they had no clue such a common word as “memory” was a registered trademark), but will comply by changing there app’s name. There was concern amongst developers that they would also not be allowed to use the keyword “memory” … however after a brief delay, Apple communicated that this keyword technique will continue to be acceptable.

On final note, seems developers need to be extra careful with this Ravensburger thing. Not only were apps cited with the term “Memory” in their title, but Ravensburger reported apps such as … Jirbo Match – Mem – Monkey Preschool Lunchbox – Twin Tiles … as being in violation as well. Ravensburger made it clear they also do not want sellers using “Memory” in the descriptions of app. Ouch! … fair warning – piss off Ravensburger, bet the ban hammer. Play it safe … just stick to developing fart apps.

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November 3, 2009 | Filed Under Games, News | 32 Comments 

Flying Feces Hits The App Store

Pocket God BLECH The iPhone is truly a rocking portable gaming platform. About half of the eleven screens on our iPhone are filled with games. We love ‘em! However, looking at the top selling games, we are deeply disturbed … Skee-Ball, Fling!, Stick-Fu, Rock Band, Doodle Jump, Frogger, Pocket God, Backbreaker Football … what is this garbage? Seriously folks, what are you thinking? These are the top games? BLECH!

Like we said, it freaking saddens us to see such nonsense grabbing your hard earned dollar. We think the problem is that with over 100,000 apps, it is simply too cumbersome to find good apps … yet alone, good iPhone games. But no worries … it’s all good. Stick with KRAPPS as we take you to the end of the rainbow and deliver iPhone gaming gold. Today’s journey includes a couple of awesome games that can only be described as KRAPPilicious.

As a preamble to reviewing these two games, it’s important to get yourself in the right frame of mind. So clear your thoughts … relax – inhale – exhale – then scream –> SHIT!

Monkey Sheep Poop Fight by In Context, Inc.

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Monkey Sheep Poop Fight is a lovely first-person shitter … errr … shooter game where the user selects their target (a monkey or a sheep) and pummels it with shit. The game is fairly basic with no real strategy involved … just throw shit at a sheep or monkey as fast as you can. The more you cover the monkey or sheep in shit, the higher you score. Pretty amazing shit! We found the best part of the game is the fact that the monkey and sheep move. These are no ordinary stationary targets like in Skee-Ball … boring. Nope, the addition of moving targets make Monkey Sheep Poop Fight freaking brilliant and certainly deserving to be a Top Paid App.

Furious George by McLean Consulting

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Furious-George-Art-FINAL You know that curiously loveable children’s book character … Curious George? Well guess what … he’s a pussy. Screw Curious George and while we’re at it … screw his creepy owner with the yellow hat. What you really need is Furious George … a caged ape who enjoys throwing his own shit at Homo sapiens. In Furious George, the game, this pissed-off primate slings shit at you like a fully automatic Uzi assault rifle. Your job is to avoid the George’s flying feces. If you dodge enough monkey manure, you’ll be awarded with rocks … which you can then use to throw back at this little bastard. Seriously, why the hell would we want to make some Doodle jump, when we can get into a flying fecal fight with a badass baboon?

LOL … see the shit you would’ve missed by not reading KRAPPS? Yeah, we know … what a bunch of BS!

November 2, 2009 | Filed Under Games | 1 Comment 

Recap: Week Of October 26

DTiTunes We received well over 40 entries to the $25 iTunes gift card giveaway sponsored by DrinkTracker. Thank you for participating. The folks at Just Another iPhone Blog will randomly select the winning entry and we will announce the results via Twitter on Monday, November 2.

And In case you missed any of the festivities, quick links to this week’s articles.

October 26: Los Angeles Baseball Fans Send Message To Yankees & Phillies With Their iPhones

October 26: Symmetrix Delivers The Obama Alien And Other Oddities

October 27: Feet – App Store’s Latest Fetish Finally Arrives

October 27: Getting Your Drunk Ass Home – DrinkTracker Receives An Update [$25 iTunes giveaway]

October 28: Prostitute Hunting With The iPhone – Craigs Ads Adult

October 28: Crazy Cool Halloween Costume Alternatives From MouthOff

October 29: Name That Ass With Mystery Butt

October 30: Man Taps iPhone 844,683 Times Proving Life Is Overrated

October 31: Coworkerisms – It’s KRAPPSpalooza In Here!

November 1, 2009 | Filed Under Recap | 1 Comment 

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