As an important distribution channel of many games and software, Apple AppStore has gradually become an important way to protect the rights of games and software. The following will focus on the process and corresponding precautions of compulsory infringing games and software removal through Apple AppStore.
First enter the APPSTORE complaint page.
First, we go to the homepage of Apple China official website, and click "Legal Information" at the bottom of the homepage.
2. After entering the "Legal Information" page, click "APPStore Content Dispute" at the bottom of the page to enter the App Complaint page.
In addition, you can also directly click on the link of the APPSTORE complaint:
AppStoreContentDispute
Second, fill in the contact information.
The complainant should fill in the contact information such as name, company name, email address, telephone number and address on the page, in which the name and email address will be provided to the App developer involved in the infringement dispute, and the other contact information will be kept confidential.
Third, determine the complaint APP link
The complainant can determine the link of the infringing APP through the search page. It is particularly important to note that if the App has game versions on iPhone, iPad and Mac, the complainant needs to list each version and its corresponding area (China CH).
If you can't find it through search, you can find a link to the infringing APP through Itunes and copy it to the list.
Four, determine the type of complaint, describe the specific infringement.
Complaint types include copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, APP name, keywords and other complaint types. The complainant should judge the specific complaint type according to the actual situation, so that Apple's legal team can examine the dispute more accurately.
Describe the specific infringement, which is the most critical part of the whole complaint rights protection. The complainant only needs to list the infringement on the complaint page and further describe the infringement content in detail by email. Taking trademark infringement as an example, the complainant should compare the salient parts of the two trademarks and show the similarities and similarities between the two trademarks through illustrations, so that the Apple legal team can intuitively understand the infringing content. In view of the legal professionalism of APP complaint rights protection, it is suggested that lawyers or corporate legal affairs should lead the complaint process, and other departments of the company should provide assistance.
5. Apple replied to the email and provided the materials needed for rights protection.
After the complaint is successful on Apple's official complaint page, the complainant will receive an email with the complaint number from Apple within a few days. The complainant can reply to the email (indicating the complaint number), which should describe the infringing content in detail and provide the materials needed for rights protection. Taking a trademark as an example, the complainant should provide the trademark registration certificate, the power of attorney signed by the trademark owner, the trademark infringement comparison document and other materials.
6. Apple informs the infringer to reply to the infringer's rebuttal email.
After the complaint is over, the infringer will receive an official email from Apple, and Apple will tell him to reply to the email as soon as possible, otherwise Apple will remove the application or delete the developer account.
Infringers will generally try their best to refute and provide corresponding materials. This stage is the process of communication between the two parties to the complaint. Both sides state their views and provide evidence materials, and both sides need to reply in English.
7. Apple officially responded to the complaint.
After several rounds of e-mails, the statements and evidence materials of both parties have been basically fixed, and Apple officials will judge according to the contents of the e-mails of both parties and make a decision on whether to remove the software products.
The APPSTORE complaint is equivalent to a lawsuit led by Apple's legal team as a judge, and the legal professionalism of both parties is very high. Therefore, it is suggested that professional lawyers or corporate legal affairs should lead the complaint process, with the assistance of other departments of the company.