With Facebook Beta for Windows Phone 8 (and soon for Windows Phone 7) becoming more mainstream on the platform, one can’t help but notice all of the copycat apps on the Store, causing brand confusion.
One devilish one is literally called “Facebook WP8 beta”, in an obvious attempt to steer naïve people towards their app.
That’s not to say there aren’t some genuine attempts to make a better Facebook app for Windows Phone users, indeed there are several with nothing but good intent by the developer. But at the end of the day, corporations need to protect their brand and with 41 clone apps on the Store competing with their official one, Facebook has evidently had enough.
In a letter obtained by Windows Phone Central, Facebook is now notifying all 41 third-party Facebook app developers (through Microsoft) of claimed infringement of their trademark. Such a move will no doubt force Microsoft to remove those apps from the Store in the coming days and weeks.
While on the one hand even we think 41 clone apps is a bit much and understand how it can cause confusion (try and search for “Facebook” or “Facebook beta” and check for yourself), we can’t help but feel bad for some of the developers who were legitimately trying to make a better app.
What do you think? Is Facebook overreaching here or doing the right thing?
Thanks, Viktor W., for the info
