Checking if app name is available

Question

I'm trying to check if a certain app name is available on app store. I've tried it before and used this procedure: Related post

But it seems that they have made some changes to iTunes Connect (iCloud style), and now I'm not able to press "Create", without a bundle ID or SKU...

Has anyone found a workaround?

Answer 1

In terms of the specific name of the app, you can just search for the name on the store and see what comes up. Creating a unique name on the store is usually not difficult. Coming up with a unique name that does not violate anyone's trademark is the real challenge.

• There is actually a benefit in making your app name detailed. For example, say you created an app for a concert hall called John's Concert Hall. The app could be named "John's Concert Hall - Tickets for Live Shows in Los Angeles". Your logo on the store and your in-app branding might just say "John's" but you choose the longer name for the store to make your app more searchable on the store. If you have a very strong brand like facebook, you might just name it "facebook" without any additional words. Just to be clear, your logo and branding might be different from what your app is actually called on the store.

• You need to have a unique bundle identifier when submitting which is typically uses the app's name.

• Just because your app's name is unique on the store does not necessarily mean it is legal for you to use. Your business' name needs to be unique in the business class that it is in per trademark law. So if there is another app named "John's Concerts," one could argue that your app's name creates confusion in the market place (i.e. someone looking for John's Concerts might stumble upon your app instead thinking it was the other app). Even if the owner of the other app does not have a formal trademark, if his app was on the store first he has a common law trademark by default, meaning you could receive a cease and desist letter. Say there was another app out there called "John's" involving music but not live performances. This could be a problem, but it is an unclear area of the law. The more general the class that you share with another app, the more murky it is, so the recommendation is always to make the core brand of the app (regardless of how it is named on the store) as unique as possible to avoid being sued later on. If you share any class with a similarly named app, you run the risk of being sued. A judge might rule in your favor, but you still run the risk of incurring a ton of legal fees.

• To ensure your app is unique, the best advice is to run a ton of searches on google and at uspto.gov. A lawyer could charge you $500-$1,000 to do these searches for you and provide you with a book that informs you with all the potential problems for your name out there. No lawyer though will guarantee that your name is safe to use. What you are paying for is their expert opinion on how likely you are to being sued. Leave it to a lawyer to give you a non-answer ;-)

Answer 2

I did some poking at this, and found that the server will still tell you whether an app name is in use. You just have to work a little bit at it.

1. Go to iTunes Connect's create-an-app page/modal as normal.

2. Put the name you want to check in the name box, and select any of the language options:

   

3. Open Chrome's inspector (or whatever way your browser has to manipulate HTML).

4. Click the magnifying class icon (top left) and click the greyed-out 'submit' button, or find it manually (inside div.right-buttons). Remove the 'disabled' attribute:

   

   5. Now click the submit button and find out whether the name is available - it'll be highlighted red (and show a tooltip when editing) if it isn't: