Guy gets banned from the Android Marketplace

> **Don’t copy other people’s stuff** > It seems obvious – but don’t copy Google’s (or anyone else’s) trademarks or logos. Even for a short-term experiment. It might seem tempting to piggy-back off the success of a popular name, but it’s not worth the risk. Big corporations don’t understand, even if you’re “trying to do the right thing”. I think this story demonstrates, more than anything about Google, just how justified trademark infringement cases are. People like to lump in these cases with all the patent trolls out there, but the fact of the matter is that what this guy did with his app icon is a tiny version of what Samsung is doing with just about all of its Android products: misrepresenting your products as those that come from another company that is far more successful.

I have no doubt that the only reason this app took off is because the icon convinced most people it was an official Google app. Disclaimers in the description are meaningless. I know from experience, most people don’t bother thoroughly reading your app description, believe me. Especially on a free app. They see a logo, and they grab the app.

That’s why when he re-released the app with a non-Google looking icon, it went nowhere.

Now, this guy says his mistake was unintentional, and it may well have been. Because a lot of people don’t understand just how valuable a brand is to a company. But in Samsung’s case, it’s beyond clear that the copying is blatant and very much intentional. And the financial impact and the long-term impact these sorts of impersonations have on a brand is incalculable.

So while I can’t stand most of the legal craziness going on lately, and I don’t agree with all of Apple’s most recent legal tactics, I have to say, when it comes to the trademark stuff, I can totally see the point.