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Facebook's 'Paper' Now Available for Download Despite Protests From FiftyThree

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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First announced last week, Facebook's new news creation and curation tool, Paper, is now available for download in the United States.

Paper is a news reader that obtains content from a user's Facebook News Feed and from well-known online news sites and publications. Like competing apps such as Flipboard and Zite, Paper features a magazine-style layout with individual section categories for content.

paper.jpg
Your Paper is made of stories and themed sections, so you can follow your favorite interests. The first section in Paper is your Facebook News Feed, where you'll enjoy inspiring new designs for photos, videos, and longer written posts. You can customize Paper with a choice of more than a dozen other sections about various themes and topics--from photography and sports to food, science and design. Each section includes a rich mix of content from emerging voices and well-known publications.
Click to expand...
Designed to replace the traditional Facebook News Feed, stories within Paper are card-based and can be flipped through by swiping. Content like status updates from friends appears alongside news stories and photos in a simple layout aimed at enhancing readability.

Though newly introduced, Facebook's Paper app shares its name with the popular Paper sketching app from FiftyThree, which has been available in the App Store since 2012.

Earlier today, FiftyThree published an open letter on its website, noting its surprise with Facebook's naming choice. The company asks Facebook to stop using its brand name and to "build a brand name of their own." According to FiftyThree co-founder Georg Petschnigg, who spoke to The New York Times, Facebook has thus far opted to continue with the app launch.
"We have, in writing, asked Facebook to refrain from using the name," Mr. Petschnigg said. "But their response was that they apologized for not letting us know sooner, but as it stands, they are continuing with their launch."
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"Paper by FiftyThree" is trademarked in the United States and in several additional countries, which could lead to a legal standoff between FiftyThree and Facebook in the future.

Paper by Facebook can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Facebook's 'Paper' Now Available for Download Despite Protests From FiftyThree
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/03/paper-by-facebook/
A

ayale99

macrumors 6502
Dec 6, 2007
345
159
Facebook Pages....because the NSA would like a little more info on which news outlets you prefer to read.
 
dontwalkhand

dontwalkhand

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2007
6,373
2,863
Phoenix, AZ
Typical dick move from Zuck & Co. They should have known better and it's obvious there's an app out there that exists by this name already.

I hope this project will fail harder than the Facebook phone. I just don't see how anyone would replace the regular Facebook app with this.

Also, get rid of other useless apps like Facebook messenger, as the features are kind of already in the app.

Other failed Facebook projects:
-Chatheads
-Facebook Camera
-HTC Status
-HTC first
-Integrated Google (what happened to this idea)
-Polls
-Facebook Hashtags


Need I say more?
 
petvas

petvas

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,807
Munich, Germany
Don't worry, NSA doesn't have to wait for you to use Paper..They already have everything on you..


Paper is still not available in Germany...I hope this app is really better than the standard Facebook app, which just sucks...
 
Munkypoo7

Munkypoo7

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2011
449
71
Hanover, MD
Don't get me wrong, I can see why FiftyThree would be unhappy about Facebook's name choice but he does not own the word paper.

Granted, I know Candy Crush and that whole "candy" debacle is ongoing but still. One single person can't own a word like that. It sets one hell of a standard.


Edit to help:
insimbi said:
Where the hell is it on the App Store?
Click to expand...

Link :)
 
insimbi

insimbi

macrumors 6502
Mar 27, 2008
356
37
Munkypoo7 said:
Don't get me wrong, I can see why FiftyThree would be unhappy about Facebook's name choice but he does not own the word paper.

Granted, I know Candy Crush and that whole "candy" debacle is ongoing but still. One single person can't own a word like that. It sets one hell of a standard.


Edit to help:


Link :)
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
the8thark

the8thark

macrumors 601
Apr 18, 2011
4,628
1,735
MacRumors said:
"Paper by FiftyThree" is trademarked in the United States and in several additional countries, which could lead to a legal standoff between FiftyThree and Facebook in the future.
Click to expand...

And facebook will win. Not be being right. But by making the legal fees so large 53 can't afford them and they'll have to pull out. It would be nice if trademarks are actually worth something (ie facebook be stopped from breaking the law) but who knows if this liw will even be enforced as it should be.
 
M

milo

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2003
6,891
522
Munkypoo7 said:
Don't get me wrong, I can see why FiftyThree would be unhappy about Facebook's name choice but he does not own the word paper.
Click to expand...

It's not owning a word, it's trademarking within a specific context, which is exactly how trademarks work.

Their trademark doesn't stop any other use of the word, including other product categories. You could use the name Paper for a soft drink, a laundry detergent, a car, whatever...as long as it's not an app. And enforcing it wouldn't set any sort of a precedent, have you not noticed that although they don't own the word, you can't sell a computer and call it "Apple"?

But they likely don't have deep enough pockets to enforce it versus Facebook, they are in the right but even winning a lawsuit would cost way more than they can afford.
 
G

gatearray

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2010
1,130
232
Redbeard25 said:
And, like every other new app, you can't find it in the app store search. #appstorefail
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Did you ever think that perhaps it doesn't show up in search because it was released 10 minutes ago?

If you were to create a new webpage on your blog, when it doesn't show up in Google search results 10 minutes later is it a "google fail"?
 
Dades

Dades

macrumors member
May 24, 2010
82
2
Dublin, Ireland
It looks great.

Though personally I prefer my news presented a bit more "missionary position". Less swiping and gymnastics and more scroll and tap.
 
tomtendo

tomtendo

Suspended
Aug 29, 2009
813
933
Florida
The app is crap and lasted 3 mins on my phone. No sense of order of what's recent. Also, you see a lot less information on the screen than the current Facebook App. IMO, this app will not succeed. The only positive thing from this app is that it wasn't forced on us with an update to the current app.
 
B

BadLTD

macrumors member
Sep 11, 2013
76
0
ayale99 said:
Facebook Pages....because the NSA would like a little more info on which news outlets you prefer to read.
Click to expand...

Second this also. That's why I deleted my Facebook. Can I use this without having a FB account?
 
emorog

emorog

macrumors newbie
Feb 29, 2008
5
0
dontwalkhand said:
Typical dick move from Zuck & Co. They should have known better and it's obvious there's an app out there that exists by this name already.

...
Need I say more?
Click to expand...

There are at least TWO other apps named Paper on the US Store already. So FiftyThree doesn't have much to stand on here. You cannot selectively decide to start enforcing a claim on a mark. And it doesn't look like they registered "paper" by itself anyhow.

Maybe not the best name for it, as i cannot find either the FB or the 53 brand Paper in the app store. I can find these:
Paper - by Contradictory
Paper - by MiSoft
Papers - by mekentosj.com
 
N

NotAdvisable

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2011
220
90
Perth, Australia
the8thark said:
And facebook will win. Not be being right. But by making the legal fees so large 53 can't afford them and they'll have to pull out. It would be nice if trademarks are actually worth something (ie facebook be stopped from breaking the law) but who knows if this liw will even be enforced as it should be.
Click to expand...

Honestly FiftyThree's trademarks are actually for "Paper by FiftyThree" and not just generically "Paper". Legally Facebook are completely in their right to name it what they want to.
 
seamer

seamer

macrumors 6502
Jul 24, 2009
426
164
53 trademarked "Paper" in relation to sketching. Facebook isn't sketching.
 
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