Apple Hit With Lawsuit From App Store Developer Over Copycat Apps

[genovelle]

This is why Apple's claim that they've created millions of jobs is rubbish because only a small percentage of app developers even break even. The rest are better off pursuing something else. Apple is liable for false advertisement if they keep pushing that narrative.

Then it’s clear they are not running their business well. Before Apple they would be paying 70% of their sale to the platform developers then still be responsible for marketing and distribution. Think Xbox and PlayStation.

 

[reyesmac]

Apple could differentiate themselves from other online stores by actually doing something about this. Amazon, ebay and the google play store are saturated with fake products and it really tarnishes the experience when you get one of these lemons. Apples top apps should be vetted for some sort of quality assurance. Maybe they need to update their review service to eliminate outfits from even being able to create fake reviews in the first place. Each phone has some sort of ID, maybe they could lock reviews of an app to one ID. That way scammers would need to purchase or have access to individual devices to make a review. Then on top of that they can see what the average number of reviews a real user makes and limit the number of reviews that device can make per month or per year. Most people wont even notice any of these changes but the ones who abuse the system will be thwarted.

 

[MauiPa]

under the age old premise that if something is true and fair, it is true and fair for all, let us just postulate that Amazon is selling products on a giant web site. company A has a product and other companies have similar products, some of which are "copycat" products meaning have similar appearance and function (say like a new smartphone that is radically different from others in shape and appearance, and is soon copied by other companies whose products also have the shape and appearance, when they never did before). So, is it up to amazon to police this function? who becomes the arbiter, does Amazon subject itself to court challenges by folks it deems as copycats? Or does the infringed party (company A) have to prove its case as either copyright or patent infringements, or plain old they copied everything your honor, in a court of law? and then use that to have Amazon remove the products from the marketplace? Yeah, pretty much they do.

We already have a system of regulation in place, it is called laws. Now are some advocating more stringent rules and regulations in the App Store, to which they have previously said is draconian? Or are we advocating regulation that requires Amazon to police the products in its marketplace and make its own determination of what it is good and fair?

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Will probably going to get tossed out before seeing a light of day.

 

[ian87w]

The problem with a lot of those fake/copycat/scam/adware apps is that they advertised their apps heavily on other platforms like youtube/instagram/Facebook (you know, the usual suspects). So they end up getting the eyeballs/installs vs actual developers who focused on actually developing the apps vs marketing. It is an unfortunate situation.

 

[Smith288]

You can’t sue somebody just because there’s no proof they aren’t out to get you. You need proof even to file a complaint - lawsuits aren’t fishing expeditions.

And all the evidence here is that apple simply doesn’t have the resources to prevent every clone. In fact, they aren’t even obligated to. Unless the clone is a copyright or trademark infringement, or does something malicious (e.g. it doesn’t perform the functions it claims to, or it violates an App Store policy), then there is no problem with clones, no matter how similar they are to the original app. In other words, when the complaint complains about apple allowing “similar, inferior” apps, so what? Isn’t that the competition you crave?

If these apps are really “scam competitors” in the sense they are ripping off customers, then they need to be removed. But, again, the fact that they made it into the store in the first place doesn’t show that apple has animus against this developer - in this thread alone there are posts from other developers that happened to.

I don’t think it’s so much the idea that Apple MUST remove copy cats but they market the idea that a small developer can enjoy success with the help of apple’s infrastructure. It’s hard to achieve any amount of real success past breaking even when an app we work hard on gets ripped off by some scam Indian firm. It’s frustrating for me and kills initiative and drive to continue.

 

[mabhatter]

Soooo... If Apple gave up its monopoly powers over its App Store, then the copycat software would go away why exactly?

Compare this to how Apple refused to sell on Amazon for years because of counterfeit items. It was only a few years ago that Apple cut a deal and made Amazon crack down hard on any "Apple branded" postings that didn't follow Apple's seller guidelines before Apple would allow Amazon that "Authorized Reseller" status.

so Apple knows exactly what is being requested here, and for their 30% they should do a much better job.

 

[Maconplasma]

Why doesn’t the Developer just patent their apps and sue the copycat people instead?

 

[I7guy]

No but they shouldn't be allowed to use the 'We are protecting you from bad actors' argument when their monopoly is called out.

Seems like doing something, albeit slowly, is much better than not being able to do anything at all, which would be an issue with the decentralized app store. Of course, one can allege anything in a lawsuit, proving them and having Apple found for the allegations is an entirely different matter.

 

[SoulFab]

No proof doesn't = not happening, prescisely why the App Store needs regulating.

Why would and who’d regulate it? Non starter!

 

[timmy_apple]

I hope the truth comes out here, why would any young aspiring iOS developer devote time and energy into learning SwiftUI and iOS Development if they are eventually going to be hit with anticompetitive behavior form Apple. This does not foster growth and innovation.

 

[matrix07]

Compare this to how Apple refused to sell on Amazon for years because of counterfeit items. It was only a few years ago that Apple cut a deal and made Amazon crack down hard on any "Apple branded" postings that didn't follow Apple's seller guidelines before Apple would allow Amazon that "Authorized Reseller" status.

so Apple knows exactly what is being requested here, and for their 30% they should do a much better job.

Apple know full well how "counterfeit items" of their products are since it's their own products. How will Apple know about someone else's product clone? This is not as clear cut as you'd think.
I agree it's in the best interest of Apple to do something about it but I don't see it being easy.

 

[SoulFab]

The solution was always there since the beginning, but the problem became evident when developers got impatient with the vetting process! Patience is truly virtue.

I truly wonder would sue google as well considering this copy cat thing is everywhere.

I also have a solution for you cry baby developers … patent your software ideas. Oh wait, that process would take too long and you have no patience!

 

[Cosmosent]

This one is definitely worth watching as it progresses !

I side with the App Dev on this one.

 

[09872738]

Why doesn’t the Developer just patent their apps and sue the copycat people instead?

Coz you cannot patent apps.

 

[now i see it]

All gigantic corporations do this. Amazon is famous for it.

 

[Rogifan]

Was browsing the App Store the other day and noticed how it's absolutely littered with sh*tty apps from unknown developers that can't have any purpose other than scamming or data mining. I thought the whole reason of the "walled garden" was to avoid this.

Once Apple leadership figured out the App Store was a real money maker (and Tim Cook promised Wall Street Apple would double services revenues) there was less incentive to police the App Store for this stuff. IAP is the biggest driver of services revenue.

 

[Icewarm]

If the problem is copy cat apps, sue the other developer. It’s like saying that coca cola lost sales because the supermarket sold a generic cola. Does Apple have some responsibility? Yes....but more and more it seems like devs want everything...no system is perfect.

 

[I7guy]

If the problem is copy cat apps, sue the other developer. It’s like saying that coca cola lost sales because the supermarket sold a generic cola. Does Apple have some responsibility? Yes....but more and more it seems like devs want everything...no system is perfect.

Seems like a lawsuit that will challenge the overall "power" that apple has and who the winners and losers of this lawsuit are will say a lot.

 

[flottenheimer]

I feel pretty sure that Apple has no interest in giving its users bad or inferior App experiences.
Therefore promotion of "Scam and copycat apps" are surely not preferred to original/real/gold standard apps.

With that said, far from enough is done to get rid of all the "scam and copycat apps" and fake reviews on the App Store.

 

[rp100]

Here's the link to the complaint if anyone is interested:

Kpaw, LLC v. Apple, Inc | PDF | App Store (I Os) | Apple Inc.

Kpaw, LLC v. Apple, Inc

www.scribd.com

Thanks for the post!

I think the “problem” is that the Plaintiff believes Apple withheld protection from counterfeit competitors after he refused the sale of his business. They have a few good angles of attack here:

• Retaliation - Apple intentionally and knowingly allowed counterfeits of Plaintiff’s software to exist such that Plaintiff was deprived of economic profit
• Negligence - Apple, whether intentionally or due to lack of resources, allowed counterfeits to exist
• False advertising - Apple intentionally communicated to end users that App Store was a safe and reliable place for purchasing software (under the assumption that said software was “legitimate”)
• False advertising - Apple intentionally communicated to developers that App Store was a safe and reliable place for selling software (under the assumption that counterfeits, clones, and/or illegal competition would be removed)

Quickly skimming the complaint, a lot of emphasis was put on false advertising and expectation management. They may have decided that retaliation wasn’t the strongest card.

 

[Jarutais]

It's complicated to flag something as an "ilegal copycat" unless it is something patented.
One could argue that Instagram Reels is just a TikTok copycat or that Vimeo is an Youtube copycat and so on.

I guess the only thing Apple can do is get rid of those scam apps mentioned that only feature a purchase button and do nothing. I wonder how those things pass the App Review in first place.

 

[I7guy]

[...]

• False advertising - Apple intentionally communicated to developers that App Store was a safe and reliable place for selling software (under the assumption that counterfeits, clones, and/or illegal competition would be removed)

Quickly skimming the complaint, a lot of emphasis was put on false advertising and expectation management. They may have decided that retaliation wasn’t the strongest card.

So how does the law see the "app store being safe"? Is it binary? Meaning one instance of some app issue somewhere and because there is one issue...Apple can't advertise a safe app store? My guess is no, that this isn't viewed as binary.

 

[MJaP]

Zynga makes hundreds of millions a year off the philosophy of deliberately copying other games that are starting to become successful and then using their dominant position to quash the original before it gains a foothold and position their copycat offering as the defacto standard.

 

[mi7chy]

If the problem is copy cat apps, sue the other developer. It’s like saying that coca cola lost sales because the supermarket sold a generic cola. Does Apple have some responsibility? Yes....but more and more it seems like devs want everything...no system is perfect.

Developers pay a tax to Apple to maintain and clean the app store so if it's not done then Apple is liable. Just like if I pay gas, license, registration, etc. taxes to the state to maintain roads and they don't then the state is liable.