How to report a copycat app to Apple (App Store trademark complaint)

Before you start

Have your registration number if you have one; a pending application still counts, a little. If you have neither, your claim rests on prior use, so the dated proof that your app was on the store first matters more than anything else.

Capture the infringing listing today. Listings change after a complaint is forwarded, and a screenshot with a date and a hash is worth far more than a memory of what it looked like.

What the form asks for

Your name and organisation, the mark, the registration (number, country, a link to the register), the infringing app (name, developer, App Store URL), and a description of the infringement in plain words. Then a set of sworn statements: that you own the right, that the use is unauthorised, and that the complaint is accurate.

Evidence that gets it accepted

A link to the register entry rather than a scan of the certificate. Your own listing, with a date. Their listing, with a date. If the icon is copied too, both icons side by side. Keep the description short: reviewers read hundreds of these.

What happens next

Apple forwards the complaint to the developer and asks them to respond. Many copycats simply rename or withdraw at this point. If they contest it, Apple asks the parties to resolve it between themselves -- which is where your registration and your evidence pack do the work.

The steps, in order

1. Open the App Store Content Dispute form — Apple Legal → Intellectual Property → Dispute forms → App Store. www.apple.com
2. Identify the app precisely — Paste the App Store URL. The numeric Apple ID in the URL (id123456789) is what Apple keys on; the name alone is ambiguous when there are five "RoomGPT" apps.
3. Choose "Trademark" as the type of claim — Not copyright. A name is a trademark matter; a copied icon or screenshots would be copyright and goes in a separate claim.
4. Paste the prepared notice into the description — Keep the seven numbered sections. Apple staff triage hundreds of these; a notice that reads like their form gets forwarded faster.
5. Attach the evidence PDF — The TakedownGPT evidence pack: your own listing first, then the infringing one, each with the capture date and digest.
6. Reply on the thread Apple opens — Apple emails a reference number and adds the developer. Answer within a few days; a stalled thread is closed as resolved.

Typical turnaround: Reference number within 1–3 business days; developers usually respond within a week; removal for non-response after roughly two weeks.

What the form asks for

• Your name, company, email, phone, address
• Whether you are the rights holder or an authorised agent
• App name and App Store link
• Type of right (trademark) and registration number / country
• Description of the alleged infringement
• Statement under penalty of perjury

Evidence worth attaching

• Your own App Store listing (shows genuine use of the name, in the same store)
• Your trademark registration or serial number, with TSDR link
• Screenshot of the infringing listing with capture date
• Search-results screenshot showing both apps side by side for the query "<mark>"

Pitfalls

• Filing copyright instead of trademark. Apple routes them differently and a wrong one is bounced.
• Naming the developer but not the exact app link. Apple asks again and you lose a week.
• Asking for removal only. Offer the rename alternative; developers say yes to that far more often, and Apple likes a complaint with a way out.
• Ignoring Apple's thread. Apple does nothing further unless you follow up.

More guides

• How to file a Google Play trademark complaint
• USPTO Letter of Protest: when to file one against a conflicting trademark application
• Opposing an EU trade mark application at the EUIPO: the three-month window
• Opposing a UK trade mark application: TM7A, TM7 and the two-month window
• My app name is not trademarked. Am I protected at all?
• How to monitor your app name for clones and trademark filings