The makers of iPhone hit
Doodle Jump, Lima Sky, have been using their trademark on the title to try to force name changes on other App Store games containing the term "Doodle."
Word of the move first broke when developer Robots vs Wizards
posted on the Touch Arcade forums that it was changing the name of its
Doodle Monster app after being contacted by a representative from Lima Sky.
But the developer changed its stance after reading an account from
Doodle Hockey developer Brian Duke, who
detailed a reportedly months-long legal battle with Lima Sky over the title.
"It's my impression that [Lima sky's] Igor [Pusenjak] is starting to chase out the 'small guys' first," Duke wrote. "The big houses aren't afraid of him. ... It's my guess that Lima Sky's intent here is to get as much momentum as they can with hopes of kicking all of the doodle-named apps out of the App Store."
Pusenjak
confirmed to Pocket Gamer that the company claims the trademark to
Doodle Jump, which was granted in November, and is seeking legal options to protect it.
"We are required by [the US Patent and Trademark Office] to monitor and police our trademarks," he said. "If we don't, we lose them."
There are currently over 700 titles containing the word "Doodle" on the App Store, including hundreds of games.
Doodle Jump was not the first such title, but is likely the most well known, as one of
2010's top-grossing iPhone game apps. The term has been used in online games dating back to the late '90s.
Apple does remove titles from the iOS App Store in cases of trademark conflicts and
other content disputes, but it's unclear whether the company has been consulted or where they would stand on Lima Sky's complaint.
After a drawn-out legal battle over a somewhat similar claim to the term "Edge" in the video game realm, controversial developer Tim Langdell was forced to
relinquish his control of the trademark last October.
Hemisphere Games recently
warned developers of a potential outbreak of app name squatting on some potentially popular title names.
