I heard about this on the news this morning. Here is the short version:
Hershey filed a preemptive complaint earlier this summer for a court to determine if they infringed on a copyright held by Las Vegas-based software developer Hottrix LLC. On Monday, Hottrix filed a counter complaint alleging that Hershey cost them over $12 million in lost profits and damage to their brand.
Both companies developed a similar iPhone app which allows the user to make virtual chocolate milk. Hottrix's app came first and includes plain milk and strawberry milk. Users have to tip the phone to "drink" from it. Hershey's claims its app, which was released in October, is much different. It includes the use of a red & white straw to drink milk from the screen.
I have to admit...I don't own a smart phone so maybe I just don't get it. But seriously! Who sits around making virtual chocolate drinks and pretending to drink them?
On a serious note, it does seem to be a very similar app that Hershey released. I will be interested to see how the court weighs in on this one.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39156799?gt1=43001&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Cool post. Although I agree with you, this is not an app I would want to install on my iPhone. Virtual drinks????? Not something that would interest me to have!
ReplyDeleteI want to know who gets paid to sit around and think up some of these things! I want that job! I have an iPhone but that's not an app I would download let alone purchase if it cost anything!
ReplyDeleteA virtual glass of chocolate milk doesn't seem very filling to me. I hope I never get to the point that I have nothing better to do with my life than sit around pretending to drink from my iphone.
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