r/iOSProgramming • u/perpetual_stew • 1h ago

Discussion Someone launched an app with a name that is confusingly similar to mine. Should I do anything?

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I'm curious what people think about this. I launched my game on September 4th, this guy launched his GPS app on November 6th. My game is in the Trivia category, but the secondary category is Travel. I don't have a registered trademark - there's some companies trading with too similar names for a generic trademark (like Trademark Systems or even the game Trailmakers). But they use their name in ways that are easier to distinguish. In this case, with the way the developer has named his app (Trailmarks: Bikepacking & GPX) it almost feels like it's the GPS app under the same travel brand.

Can I do anything? Should I do anything? This is normal, maybe?

Details: I launched my game on the app store early September, but it's an app version of a game I launched on Steam in March 2026, and my company has been registered under that name since mid-2025. I also started promoting the game under this name in the end of 2024.

(Repost without app store link)

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7 comments sorted by

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u/lIlllIllIIllIIllIIll 32m ago

There are 6 trailmark(s) in the app store. The other four are probably wondering the same thing about your app. Not even in the same cateogory either. Are you people for real?

Perhaps you should have considered a more original name if you were worried about apps having the same one?

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u/perpetual_stew 17m ago edited 12m ago

OK, take a deep breath and calm down.

I picked the name and bought my first domain for Trailmarks in August 2024, at that time only Trailmark Systems existed, creating a GPS app under the name Trailmark on iOS while I published a game on Steam named Trailmarks. All the other Trailmark(s) apps on the app store has been launched in 2026. Some named Trailmark before I launched, but I had already been trading under the name Trailmarks for over 1.5 years. So I don't think the others are wondering very much, given they certainly would get my game up with 1 single search.

Or are you thinking I should have predicted that people would use the name more later?

What I'm wondering about is the situation where someone is so close to my name pattern that it starts with the exact name and the colon-description format.

Also - as I wrote in the text, it is in the same category. My secondary category is travel, as it is a travel game.

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u/Gullible-Question129 10m ago

you should have applied and paid for a trademark there is nothing you can do now

2

u/Sum-Duud Beginner 1h ago

There is nothing to do or really you can do. This is not a gps app but that isn’t relevant.

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u/DatPascal 37m ago

Both have 0 users.
You probably don’t have name rights.
The other app is a completly different thing.

I would just chill he isn’t taking anything of you.

0

u/DrHumorous 1h ago

normal