The 2012 Olympics and Branding Police
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Some of those restrictions are straight up insane and for athletes to abide by them, well they’ll get what they deserve, 15 min of fame.
I’d really like to see 1/2 of the athletes break the rules and see what the Olympic gestapo does.
Top Android Olympic App removed, saying it infringed Olympic Committee trademarks
I am the developer of an app which was named ‘London Olympics 2012 Ultimate.’ It was top of the list for a while in Google App Market in the Olympics category, and was truly a wonderful app just like its name. It had gained thousands of users, and highest rating, and great reviews. These things are not easy to gain.
However, it didn’t interfere with Olympic Committee branding neither by its logo or by its name. But Olympic Committee complained to Google on some invalid grounds, and Google removed it without even asking me first to comply with the demands of the Olympic Committee.
Olympic Committee said: I used their logo, used term London 2012, and used term The Olympics. These three things are owned by them. However, I didn’t use their logo, I created my own original artwork, which used four rings in different colors, size and arrangement than the official logo to Olympic Committee. I never used the terms The Olympics or London 2012 anywhere in the app.
On the other hand, there are tons of unofficial apps out there using original trademarks and graphic work of the Olympic Committee, including the rings. You can easily find them by searching for ‘Olympics’ at Google Play website.
Now neither Google nor Olympic Committee is replying to my emails which I have been sending them with the proofs that I didn’t violate anybody copyright laws, and even then willing to change the content if that makes Olympic Committee happy.
Now I have uploaded the app once again under a new long name: Follow this year’s UK Olympic. I hope this won’t offend Olympic Committee. However my user base, ratings and reviews are gone.
Don’t you think I was treated unjustly and unfairly, and also singled out because I was on the top providing a good service, whereas many other simpler apps are still out there openly infringing Olympic Committee’s copyrights?
And advise what should I do next to reclaim activation of my old app?