Someone copied my app: what can I actually claim?
Finding a copy of your app is infuriating, and the first instinct is to report everything. That is the fastest way to have a complaint ignored. Stores act on protected material, so here is what is protected, part by part.
Usually claimable
Your app's name
A name is a brand, so it falls under trademark. On the App Store, Guideline 4.1(c) also stops developers using another developer's product name in their app's name without approval, which helps even without a registration. On Google Play, a legal name claim is much stronger with a registered trademark; without one, report the copy under Google's Impersonation policy. Generic words (“Bible”, “Calculator”) are not yours, even if they are in your name; the distinctive part is.
Your icon
Your icon artwork is copyright, and on the App Store also Guideline 4.1(c). Copies are often disguised: cropped, shrunk onto a new background, mirrored, recoloured or given a “PRO” badge. They are still your artwork.
Your screenshots
Your screenshot artwork is copyright, including when someone puts it in a new phone frame or adds new captions.
Your description
Sentences copied word for word are the strongest text claim. Close paraphrases can count too. Common phrases everybody uses (“easy to use”, “track your progress”) do not.
Not claimable
Features, layout, the idea, the category. Nobody owns “a habit tracker with streaks” or “a D&D character sheet”. Listing shared features in a complaint makes it look weaker, not stronger.
Three checks before filing
- Who came first? If their app was released before yours, they did not copy you.
- Is it really someone else? Your own listing on the other store, a past version, or a partner can look like a copy.
- Is the evidence saved? Dated copies of their icon, screenshots and text, ideally with image fingerprints.
Where to file
CloneWatch scores each part separately, shows you the evidence for every score, marks each part as a strong claim, a possible one, or nothing to claim, and warns you off filing when the case is weak. Check your app free.
General information, not legal advice. For anything serious, talk to a solicitor or IP lawyer.