Apple on Thursday made changes to the rules in its App Review Guidelines, updating one rule and expanding two other rules, to crack down on copycat apps. The company also updated other rules.
As first reported by 9to5Mac, Apple on Thursday made nine changes to its App Review Guidelines. One new rule is intended to further crackdown on copycat apps that look to ride the back of the success of popular apps.
4.1 Copycats
(c) You cannot use another developer’s icon, brand, or product name in your app’s icon or name, without approval from the developer.
Apple already had two rules in place to deal with copycat apps:
(a) Come up with your own ideas. We know you have them, so make yours come to life. Don’t simply copy the latest popular app on the App Store, or make some minor changes to another app’s name or UI and pass it off as your own. In addition to risking an intellectual property infringement claim, it makes the App Store harder to navigate and just isn’t fair to your fellow developers.
(b)Submitting apps which impersonate other apps or services is considered a violation of the Developer Code of Conduct and may result in removal from the Apple Developer Program. (Applies to Notarization of iOS apps in the EU)
Copycat apps have been a problem in Apple’s App Store, as well as Google’s Play Store. Copycat developers either copy the functionality of the real app, or simply copy the genuine app’s name and icon, update their app’s listing to closely resemble the original.
While it’s true that Apple usually respond quickly to block copycat apps or to force developers to restore the original name and icon of their app, it is a time consuming process.
The full App Review Guidelines, including the other new or changed guidelines, are available here.
