Christiaan Rendle初闻苹果将推广的软件名为AirDrop时，他开始坐立不安——《AirDrop Rro》正是他和Mirko Kiric合作开发的一款iPhone游戏名称，并且早已在2009年8月投放苹果App Store销售。玩家在该游戏中的任务就是指引一架货运飞机向陆地目标投放箱子。

而苹果打算推出的AirDrop却与他们的这款游戏无关，除此之外，AirDrop还是苹果即将在今年夏天推出的Mac操作系统X Lion的一个新功能名称，该功能支持用户通过无线网络传输文件。

苹果新功能AirDrop与一款iPhone手机游戏重名

Rendle的小型工作室Cozmo Games目前已通过AirDrop这款游戏创造了40万多次下载量，这款99美分游戏还正准备推出其第二个版本。他在上周表示，关于AirDrop重名的这件事，苹果到现在还没有跟他们联系，但就算苹果联系了，他们也没有什么对策。因为苹果一直就很重视保护自己的商标，他们没有告倒苹果的胜算。

苹果历来擅长利用其法律资源来捍卫产品名称，并时常因商标或版权问题与其他公司展开交涉。但目前为止，苹果发言人拒绝回应此事。

据公共记录显示，苹果并没有注册AirDrop的商标，而Rendle也没有采取相同的行动（游戏邦注：App Store中还有另一款游戏名为《Air Drop This》）。但苹果一向就有追讨侵权者法律责任的传统。

Little App Factory工作室首席执行官John Devor曾在2009年收到苹果的法律文件，要求他为工作室旗下的iPodRip项目更名。iPodRip是一个从苹果音乐播放器中提取音乐的应用程序，因为John Devor与苹果协商未果，该应用只得更名为iRip，以防因“iPod”一词而冒犯苹果。

今年1月份，软件开发商Bonobo Labs也有相似的遭遇，该工作室因其投放于Mac平台的免费应用程序Unretina而收到苹果要求其更名的信函，因为该应用名称使用了Retina，而这个单词正是苹果的一个注册商标。

但在AirDrop这件事情上，苹果的态度和立场却并不明确。宾西法尼亚大学法学院教授Polk Wagner表示，因为Cozmo已首先将该名称用于手机游戏，所以这家小型工作室也有可能在商标法律诉讼中获胜。法院有可能判定“air”和“drop”只是组成了一个“描述性名称”，就好像将“电脑”一词作为新型PC产品的商标一样。

不过，苹果也可以将“air”一词已运用于AirtPort、AirPlay和MacBook Air等其他苹果产品的事实作为法律依据，Wagner认为在广告营销上投入越多心思的公司，就越有可能在商标纠纷中占据优势。

据Wagner所称，“我认为在这一点小，小型开发商很可能处于弱势，谷歌搜索的前15项结果几乎都与苹果产品有关，而他们此时却还没有正式发布产品。”

尽管如此，Rendle却对此表示乐观，他认为自己的AirDrop游戏有可能因与苹果新软件名称沾边而获益，“我们希望Lion的发布能够推动这款游戏的下载量，因为那时候有不少用户都在搜索AirDrop这个关键词，所以就有可能由此发现我们的游戏。”他称自己很关心苹果是否会将AirDrop这项新功能推广到手机平台，因为这样就有可能因名称撞车而带来麻烦，“我相信苹果迟到会通知我们……我们也正在寻找一个新的游戏名称。”

从另一方面来看，苹果如此迷恋一个特定的名称，对Rendle的工作室来说也未尝不是好事。计算机网络巨头思科系统拥有iPhone的注册商标，并在2007年起诉苹果侵权，双方最后在1月份达成协议，这两个科技行业巨擘终于以未公开的条款握手言和。

去年有一家名为BCWood的应用开发商在论坛上曝料称，苹果要求他们移除投放于App Store的计时工具，“我们收到FACETIME商标所有人的通知，他们声称已在美国和其他地区注册了FACETIME的商标”，而BCWorld的同名应用程序投放App Store已有一年之久，在此期间无人过问它的名称是否侵权。

这里所提到的FaceTime商标所有人，当然就是苹果。

虽然这个FaceTime遭遇不幸，但另一个FaceTime却大获其益。据称为了使用FaceTime一词为视频电话服务命名，苹果与FaceTime Communications达成协议，使后者出让这一名称，自动更名为Actiance。

但苹果在这方面也并非无往不利，在2006年，该公司将其机顶盒命名为iTV，但遭到了英国独立电视台（简称ITV）的反对，所以不得不重命名为Apple TV。

苹果终于在本周二联系了Rendle，但双方的谈话仍然存在多个未解决的问题。

苹果开发者关系经理打电话给Rendle，声称苹果并不享有AirDrop的商标，也并不在乎重名的问题，苹果也使用Mail、Photos和Clock等通用词为自己的软件命名。

但据Rendle所述，该负责人并未向Rendle保证苹果未来不会改变这一决定，“苹果的反应和我预料的一模一样。所以我们只能静观其变，如果AirDrop的影响力扩大，并引进iOS平台，那么苹果就很可能改变它的立场。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Game developer braces for fight with Apple over name

(CNN) — When Christiaan Rendle first heard Apple promoting software called AirDrop, he was flying high — and concerned about a crash landing.

“AirDrop PRO” is the name of the iPhone game that Rendle and his partner, Mirko Kiric, developed and began selling on Apple’s App Store in August 2009. In it, players navigate cargo planes and attempt to land crates onto targets below.

The AirDrop that Apple is drumming up interest in isn’t Rendle’s game.

AirDrop also happens to be the name of a new feature coming in OS X Lion, the next version of the Mac computer platform that Apple says will come out this summer. Rather than cartoon planes and parachuting boxes, this AirDrop is made by Apple and will let people exchange documents between computers wirelessly — over the air, in tradespeak — by dragging and dropping files.

Rendle’s small game development studio, Cozmo Games, has served more than 400,000 downloads of the AirDrop game, which costs 99 cents and is now on its second version.

Though Apple hadn’t come knocking in the two months since pulling the curtains off AirDrop for the Mac, Rendle says he has been on edge. He’s concerned the most highly valued technology company in the world, with its mighty legal arm, could try to muscle him out of the name he’s been using for nearly two years.

“As yet, Apple has not contacted us regarding the use of the name, and we think they would have by now, given that the new Lion OS will be released in the coming months,” Rendle wrote in an e-mail last week. “But if (they) do, there is not a lot we can do. Apple are (sic) notorious for aggressively protecting their trademarks, and there is just no way to out-lawyer them.”

Apple has traditionally flexed its legal assets to defend product names, either fighting infringements or cutting deals with trademark owners. An Apple spokesman declined to comment for this story.

Public records don’t turn up a trademark filing from Apple for AirDrop. Rendle said he hasn’t filed for one either. (The App Store is also home to another game called “Air Drop This.”) But Apple does have a history of pursuing alleged violators.

After receiving a legal letter from Apple in 2009, John Devor, CEO of a development studio called Little App Factory, appealed to Apple CEO Steve Jobs via e-mail. He pleaded that Apple reconsider its stance and allow him to keep the name of his program, iPodRip.

“Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal,” the Apple co-founder allegedly replied.

IPodRip, a program for extracting music from Apple’s music players, eventually rebranded as iRip — minus the “iPod” trademark.

Software developer Bonobo Labs reported in February that it had received a note from Apple regarding a free app for the Mac called Unretina. Apple owns the rights to the name Retina, for its small, high-resolution screens, and suggested that Bonobo was infringing on those trademarks, the report said.

But Rendle’s circumstance with AirDrop isn’t necessarily clear-cut in Apple’s favor.

Because Cozmo appears to have used the name commercially first for its mobile game, the little guy could win favor in a trademark lawsuit, said Polk Wagner, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Courts could determine that the words “air” and “drop,” in Apple’s instance, constitute a “descriptive name” — like trying to trademark “computer” for a new line of PCs, Wagner said.

But in a court argument, Apple could leverage the fact that it has used “air” in other products, like AirPort, AirPlay and MacBook Air, Wagner said. The company that spends more aggressively in advertising can also gain an edge in trademark disputes, he said.

Guess which that would be.

“I think it’s likely (the small developer) would get squashed,” Wagner said. “The first 15 things on Google (search) were all Apple-related, and they haven’t released the product yet.”

While getting overshadowed can seem a punishment in itself, Rendle is optimistic. His “AirDrop” game could even benefit from Apple’s new software, he said.

“We would expect that our average downloads will increase once Lion is released, given that people will inevitably be searching for ‘AirDrop’ and discover our game,” Rendle wrote. However, he said he expects that if Apple ports its feature from desktops to mobile, where the AirDrop game has thrived, “I’m sure we’ll be hearing from them … and looking for a new game name,” he wrote.

On the flip side, Apple’s infatuation with a particular name can bring a payday.

Computer-networking giant Cisco Systems, which owns the trademark for iPhone, sued Apple in 2007 after the announcement of the blockbuster smartphone. They reached an agreement in February, which opened the doors for collaboration between the two behemoths and involved an undisclosed settlement.

Last year, an app developer vented on Web forums about a message he said Apple sent him that urged him to remove his timekeeping utility from the App Store. “We received notice from the trademark owner of FACETIME who has confirmed their ownership of registrations for FACETIME in the U.S. and other countries,” wrote BCWood, the developer whose app had existed for about a year without question.

The trademark owner of FaceTime, of course, is Apple.

But when one Facetime suffered, another prospered. To christen Apple’s new video-calling service, the tech giant came to an agreement with FaceTime Communications, a communications and security firm that rebranded as Actiance, for rights to the FaceTime name. Terms were not disclosed.

Sometimes, Apple doesn’t get its way. In 2006, the company unveiled a set-top box called the iTV. After the British broadcaster by the same name voiced its objections, the Cupertino, California, company released the product under the name Apple TV.

Rendle and Apple finally connected regarding the AirDrop name on Wednesday, but the conversation left many questions open.

An Apple developer relations manager called Rendle to tell him that Apple doesn’t own a trademark on the name and is not concerned about overlap, Rendle said. Apple uses generic names for some of its software, such as Mail, Photos and Clock.

But the Apple manager offered the small development team no assurance that things would not change in the future, Rendle said.

“That was very much the response I expected. So, we’ll just have to see how big Apple’s AirDrop becomes,” Rendle wrote. “If it gains traction and is introduced to iOS, I am sure Apple’s position will likely change.”（source:edition）