Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) could face a potential legal battle in connection with its “Rooms” app, which was launched last week.
Damien Rottemberg, co-founder and CTO of Room Inc., the developer of Room app, which was first released on the App Store of Apple on September claimed that Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) copied the intellectual of his firm.
Facebook’s Rooms app is similar to the Room app
The Rooms app of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is similar to the Room app of Room Inc. Both applications allow users to create and invite people to mini chatrooms and maintain an anonymous identity.
When Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) introduced its Rooms app, the social network giant said it was a tribute to the internet chatrooms of the early days. Josh Miller, the project manager of Rooms app presented his idea to CEO Mark Zuckerberg after the company acquired Branch. Miller said Rooms is a “tool for empowering individuals.”
Rooms Inc founders are discussing legal action
Rottemberg and his co-founder Frank-David Cohen are discussing the possibility of filing a legal action against Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), according to a spokesperson for Room Inc.
Rottemberg issued a statement to 9to5Mac that they do not know what happened whether something was leaked from Venture Capitals they were talking to, Facebook executives on their friends list or friends of friends working at the social network giant.
He added that maybe someone at Facebook saw their app and thought it was cool enough to copy.
Rottemberg emphasized, “We’re sure this is not a coincidence. We don’t understand how Facebook, with all their lawyers, could have released an app with the same name and features. We won’t let this happen and we want to defend all entrepreneurs with great ideas and great visions.”
Previous trademark issues
In 2011, Timeline.com filed a trademark complaint against Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) after the social network giant launched Timeline.
When the company launched its Paper news reading app, FiftyThree, the developer of the popular drawing app paper complained and urged the social network giant to change the name of the app because it created confusion.
The firm Bolt was also unhappy when Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) introduced the Bolt photo-messaging app for Instagram. The firm emphasized its hard work in building the Bolt brand and asked the social network giant to create a different name and not to destroy all of its efforts.
