Apple clause will prevent Dong Ngyuen from bringing back Flappy Bird name on iOS

By Nicel Jane Avellana

Mar 15, 2014 08:49 AM EDT

Even if Dong Nguyen, the creator of Flappy Bird wants to resurrect his hit game, he may encounter difficulties, VentureBeat reported.

In an interview with Rolling Stone this week, Nguyen said he is mulling about bringing back the game he took out from the iOS and Android app markets. He added if that happens, he will be advising gamers to take a break from all the action, the report said.

However, a clause in the developer agreement he inked with Apple may bar him from doing so. The documentation read, "If you delete your app, you can't restore it. The SKU or app name can't be reused in the same organization."

That means that when he removed Flappy Bird from the Apple Store, he also surrendered his claim to the Flappy Bird name and its revenues which reportedly reached $50,000 a day. Even if he had the copyright, he would still not be able to reuse Flappy Bird because he had already agreed to Apple's terms. According to other developers, Apple is also quite rigid when it comes to ensuring that the names in Apple Store remain unique so unless there are changes to the rules, it might be difficult for Nguyen to get back the Flappy Bird name. This kind of limitation, however, does not exist in Google Play, the report said.

Another impediment is that developer Mobile Media Partners laid claim to the "Flappy Bird" name on iOS a couple of hours after Nguyen took out his game. In fact, the developer that released the Crashy Bird title, already has a trademark pending on the label. If Nguyen possessed a trademark for Flappy Bird, he could take Mobile Media Partners to court so that they would not be able to introduce the game. However, Apple would still not allow Nguyen to use the title again, the report said.

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