IMESSENGER STORY (CONT'D): LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION EXAMPLE


WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE TERM, 
LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION?

As a continuation of this ongoing story on IMESSENGER app and our trademark application, there is another twist to this story. Unlike our own experience where the platform provider took our application with this name out of the play store, as another organization claimed likelihood of confusion without giving us opportunity to present our side of things, which we then presented on our own to get our app reinstated, there were several other apps with the same name that were not removed and was not even brought up in the claim by the third party. 

This information was shared with the platform provider for which they had suggested to submit an official removal request presenting evidence. As we were confident that our trademark would go through and get approved soon, we decided to wait until the trademark gets approved to submit this removal request. However, though we strongly feel that the trademark should have been approved by now, due to certain reasons where hidden forces might be preventing the trademark to get approved, the trademark application is still pending. However, our trademark application is still intact and our strong legal counsel would do the best to present all evidences in place for this to be approved in the near future. 

Why we decided to pursue submitting a removal request now?
In the meantime, when we shared our apps to some contacts of ours, we got an email asking which one of the IMESSENGER apps is ours that suggested there is a likelihood of confusion in the marketplace due to some other apps having the same name. 

With this platform provider providing a platform that reaches more than 140 countries, we believe prior art would take over and for that reason we have submitted an official removal request to remove this app from the play store. We expect a positive response in this regard. In the meantime, if you are looking for IMESSENGER in the Google Play Store, please search for val-u-pro and IMESSENGER for now.

We are presenting this information to the public to reduce confusion in this matter.

By the way, with all these issues that we faced which has affected our organization's reputation in many ways, we have also built our own eCommerce platform, AmazeBaba, where we plan to offer a wide range of applications, along with other real and fully functional products. For more about Amazebaba, please check out, Amazebaba.com.

Supporting Evidences:

JAN 2019

VAL-U-PRO CONSULTING GROUP, LLC - SRIKANTH KIDAMBI srik.kid2012@gmail.com

AttachmentsTue, Jan 8, 2019, 6:40 PM
to removals
The Google Team:

We would like to get in touch with regard to a messenger app of ours that is currently
available on Google Play Store. The name of the app is iMessenger.  

We noticed another app with same features, and exactly the same name added to Google
Play Store after more than a year since the addition of our app to the play store. Moreover,
we have submitted a trademark application in US for iMessenger.  

Based on prior art, and prior use in market, we would like Google Play team to take appropriate
action with regard to the second app with the same name that is even coming above in searches
compared to ours in the play store despite the app being added later on (please see below) . 

Moreover,  we have also been utilizing WeMessenger in the market place,  and even that named
app should be screened for addition,  if it were to be added in the future. 

We are confident Google Play team will take appropriate action in this regard.

Sincerely, 
Srikanth Kidambi PhD,  MBA
Founder and Member Partner, 
Val-U-Pro Consulting Group,  LLC


Attachments area

removals@google.com

Tue, Jan 8, 2019, 11:05 PM
to me

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to us.


Please note that we do not accept add-on requests for removal. For all new requests, we require
that you submit a signed and completed complaint as you have previously done. We recommend
using our online notification form at http://support.google.com/legal. Using this form will ensure the
quickest possible processing time for your complaint.

Regards,
The Google Team

When replying to this message, please do not change the subject line. Doing so may prevent us 
from receiving your message, and will cause you to receive a "bounced" auto-response. If you receive
 that "bounce" response, please resend your message by replying to this original email without 
changing the subject line. If you still receive an auto-response, submit a new request through our forms 
at https://support.google.com/legal.


June 2020

[Case: 55-886046] Your Request to Google


Inbox
x

play-trademarks@google.com

Sat, Jun 6, 8:42 PM (23 hours ago)
to me
Thanks for reaching out to us!
We have received your legal request. We receive many such complaints each day; your message is in
our queue, and we'll get to it as quickly as our workload permits.
Due to the large volume of requests that we experience, please note that we will only be able to
provide you with a response if we determine your request may be a valid and actionable legal
complaint, and we may respond with questions or requests for clarification. For more information on
Google's Terms of Service, please visit http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS
Regards,
The Google Team

A section of the email that we received which confirms likelihood for confusion.


References: