Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:32:52 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110111/00141112600/dont-make-app-that-shows-you-drinking-liquid-your-phone-one-company-might-sue-you.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110111/00141112600/dont-make-app-that-shows-you-drinking-liquid-your-phone-one-company-might-sue-you.shtml sued beer giant Coors for making a competing beer app. Hottrix, of course, makes various gimmicky apps that make your iPhone look like it is full of some sort of liquid that "drains out" as you tilt the device to make it look like you're "drinking" from the phone. They're pretty silly, but some people have liked them and were actually willing to give Hottrix money for them. One of Hottrix's apps was iBeer. Coors created their own beer drinking app, called iPint, and offered it for free. That's when Hottrix sued. I can't find any information on what happened to that lawsuit. After it was filed nothing much seems to have happened. Perhaps it was settled out of court?

Either way, Hottrix seems to have learned a simple lesson: if some big company makes any sort of "drinking app," be sure to sue. The latest target is chocolate giant Hershey, which made a chocolate milk drinking app which wasn't even a "clone" of Hottrix's app. After Hottrix threatened to sue, Hershey sued first for declaratory judgment and Hottrix counter-sued. Hershey reasonably asked the court to dump Hottrix's lawsuit, but the court has refused. I'm having trouble understanding why. It is true that Hershey had first reached out to Hottrix about having it make a similar app for Hershey, but even after Hershey went to another developer instead, it's hard to see what is "protectable" under copyright that Hershey copied here. As has been pointed out over and over again, copyright doesn't protect the idea, just the expression, and this appears to be an entirely different expression, even if it is based on the same idea.

The case might still turn out in Hershey's favor, but the judge is claiming that a full trial is necessary, as Hottrix has sufficiently pled its case, though I'm still trying to figure out how that's possible. As you read the details of the case, you realize that Hershey's app is actually quite different than Hottrix's. Yes, both involve the basic idea of drinking, but Hershey's app has different features. You don't "drink" out of the corner of the app, but out of a "straw" that you add to the app. The Hershey's app includes (not surprisingly) the ability to add chocolate syrup to the milk -- which Hottrix's app does not have. The court argues that because Hershey had obviously seen the original app, and that its own app is similar enough that this issue needs to go to trial. However, given the fact that it's difficult to see what's protectable, this seems like a huge waste of court resources. Hopefully the court realizes this eventually, but it seems like a waste of time to have to go through a full trial to make the obvious point that Hottrix doesn't deserve a total monopoly on "drinking" apps.

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]]> drink-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110111/00141112600 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:35:00 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081016/0041422557.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081016/0041422557.shtml concerns two competing virtual beer applications, both of which make your iPhone look like the side of a full beer glass, that will "drain" the beer, as you tilt the iPhone. Cute, gimmicky app, right? Except if you're a pissed off developer who seems to think that only one person should be allowed to make such an app. A company called Hottrix that made such an app is suing the beer company Coors for an astounding $12.5 million for offering up a similar app of its own.

Hottrix's app, iPint, cost money, whereas Coors (perhaps implicitly recognizing how infinite goods -- the silly app -- can help sell more scarce goods -- beer) gave its app, iBeer, away for free. The Coors version was more involved, as it also included a "game" where you needed to guide a sliding pint across a bar into some waiting hands. Hottrix's lawyers claim that the idea of such a virtual beer glass is copyrightable -- which seems fairly questionable. Concepts can't be covered by copyright. It needs to be the exact implementation, and as long as the Coors version was different, then it's difficult to see the copyright claim. Hottrix also pulls out the bogus argument that iPint hurt iBeer's sales. That's simply incorrect. It wasn't Coors that hurt Hottrix's sales, it was Hottrix, for having a bad business model. Competition isn't illegal.

But, of course, Apple in its infinite (loop) wisdom, removed the Coors app after Hottrix complained, thus protecting Hottrix from its own business model mistake. And yet, Hottrix still wants $12.5 million from Coors for daring to come up with a similar idea. You have to hope this gets thrown out of court quickly.

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