

Coke accidentally created an ad for our app. What should we do? - MatthewCampbell

A few months ago, a friend and I created a Facebook app. The Like-o-Meter. It counted the number of Likes on your Facebook wall posts and challenged you to beat your friends. It was a fun idea, but we didn't really get it off the ground yet.<p>Then, this afternoon, I started getting a flood of emails, all about the Like-o-Meter. Some said that they loved the app. Some were trying to make ambiguous business deals with me. I went to our app's Facebook Wall, and found a huge number of positive messages, all from people in Egypt.<p>There was no obvious reason for this sudden popularity. So I Googled. This came up:
http://thenextweb.com/me/2011/06/13/did-coca-cola-just-create-an-ad-campaign-for-facebook/<p>Apparently Coca Cola is airing an ad in Egypt. The ad mentions the "Coca Cola Like-o-Meter" - a Facebook app of some sort. Their ad didn't display a URL, so people are finding mine. And using it. And, apparently, liking it. It seems to be spreading virally beyond people who saw the ad.<p>Has anything ever happened like this before?<p>And does anyone speak Arabic? What does the ad say about the Like-o-Meter? It's not a pro-Mubarak ad, is it?<p>UPDATE: apparently the entire concept of their app is a direct rip-off of mine, not just the name. I guess that makes the legal issues more interesting?
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tomtom101
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOjDzFWsgFo> here is the advert and the app
<http://apps.facebook.com/cocacolalike/home.php> The advert does not say that
much about the app. Basically the more you like stuff the better it is for
your heart and health as liking things makes us feel good and others as they
receive likes, so go ahead and start liking today, tomorrow and everyday. The
like-o-meter keeps showing you everyday and then they start listing different
users number of likes etc etc. No pro-Mubarak stuff at all, in fact they even
show some footage of a protester standing in front of a riot van. Let me know
if you want more info and good luck.

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MatthewCampbell
Thank you so much! Sounds like a good ad.

It sounds like they're describing the concept in the same way that we do.

Shame that they're squeezing their branding into the revolution. Glad it was
just one shot of that.

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tomtom101
I speak Arabic, taking a look for you now.

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instakill
Dude you're getting free traffic. I'd be happy. You won't be suing them if
unless you'd like to lose, and they can't sue you because you were there
before they were.

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slig
Probably, but they can sure ask to FB to take his app down.

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there
see <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2627051>

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noduerme
"Finally, does anyone speak Arabic?" Lol. The CIA has been asking that for
years.

In all seriousness, they probably didn't know they were doing it. If I were
you I'd call a trademark/patent lawyer yesterday and see if you can register,
given that you can show prior use. Coca-Cola is notorious as one of the
absolute most-vicious companies on the planet when it comes to both
registering and protecting their marks; there's a high probability they
already registered Like-o-Meter, and will attack you as soon as they hear
about yours.

This boost, on the whole, may not be a good thing; find a lawyer who's willing
to assume an offensive posture if you want to hold onto your app. And good
luck =)

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abbasmehdi
How can anyone threaten anything when you have prior art?

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petervandijck
Expensive laywers.

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noduerme
re: UPDATE: apparently the entire concept of their app is a direct rip-off of
mine, not just the name. I guess that makes the legal issues more interesting?

It might. Don't go on a spending spree yet. Let a competent lawyer look it
over. My guess at a glance -- and I'm not a lawyer, just stewed in IP issues
-- would be you'll have a hard time getting anything out of their theft of
your concept, short of owning a patent. Copyright could give you some relief
if they directly ripped your code off and you can prove they decompiled and/or
used something from that. Your best bet again is probably trademark
infringement against your mark which had prior use. (That also depends on if
Facebook themselves haven't trademarked the word "Like" the way they've
trademarked "Book".)

Other than a lawyer, your only bet is to raise an unholy racket here and in
the blogosphere and make sure everyone knows you did it first. Which I fully
support.

