App removed in one country over a trademark

• We hold a signed licence from the trademark owner that covers digital platforms.
• The complainant runs a competing app. Its authorization was signed by a partner who has no signing rights under the official commercial register.
• Two Play Console appeals were denied with a template reply. We submitted the legal trademark appeal form over two weeks ago, with certified translations, and have had no response.

ZEN TITIAN said:

That's frustrating, especially when you already have a signed licence. I would try getting the trademark owner to contact Google directly and confirm your authorization. Sometimes hearing it from the rights holder can help move things forward.

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ali35 said:

Hi everyone,


Our restaurant chain’s ordering app was removed from Google Play in our country after a trademark complaint.

• We hold a signed licence from the trademark owner that covers digital platforms.
• The complainant runs a competing app. Its authorization was signed by a partner who has no signing rights under the official commercial register.
• Two Play Console appeals were denied with a template reply. We submitted the legal trademark appeal form over two weeks ago, with certified translations, and have had no response.

Has anyone been through this? Any experience, contacts or ideas that actually worked would really help, whether it’s how to escalate within Google, what evidence made the difference, or anything else we haven’t tried.





Thanks!

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arxixx said:

one thing worth knowing while the appeal runs: a country removal only affects the play listing there, existing installs keep working and keep updating unless the app is suspended outright. so current customers are not lost, and a simple web ordering page as a fallback usually saves more revenue than waiting on the appeal
also make sure you are in the right queue. the play console policy appeal and google's legal removal process go to different teams, and a trademark counter notice filed through the legal form tends to get a human reading it, while the console appeal keeps returning the template you already have

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ali35 said:

Yes, you are right about existing customers—they can search for and order through the app normally.

The issue is specifically with new customers, who cannot find the app on the Google Play Store. We submitted an appeal to the Legal Team on October 16th, but we haven't received a response yet.

The only reply we received was from the standard appeals team, who rejected our request to restore the app and referred us directly to the Legal Team.

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arxixx said:

that makes sense, the template rejection from the appeals team is normal since they cant touch legal removals at all. what usually moves the legal queue is a letter from the actual trademark owner, not from you as licensee, sent as a reply to the same legal case thread with the case id kept in the subject. google doesnt want to judge who is right between two licensees, but a direct statement from the rights holder that they never authorized the other app's signer is something they can act on without taking sides
if there is a reply email from that legal ticket, answer it there instead of opening a new form, new submissions often go back to the end of the queue. and if the trademark owner is willing, they can also send a complaint against the competing app through the same form, that tends to get attention faster than waiting on your own appeal

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ali35 said:

Thanks a lot for the advice, really helpful. We already have a signed letter from the trademark owner himself. The problem is we opened a new legal appeal two days ago. Does that cancel the old case, or can I still reply on the old thread? Is it better to reply only on the old one, or on both?

Also, yesterday the trademark owner filed a complaint against the competing app, with a stamped letter confirming he never authorized the company that filed the complaint against us.

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arxixx said:

a new appeal shouldnt cancel the old case, they usually just get linked or closed as a duplicate on google's side, so you can still reply on the old thread. id answer the old one and put the new case id in the reply, then send one short note on the new case with the old case id in it, so whoever picks it up sees both and they get handled together. after that dont send anything more, every new message or form can push you back in the queue
the owner's complaint is the strongest thing you have now. if he got a case id for it, add it to your reply on the old thread along with his signed letter, so the reviewer can see the rights holder backs you and has already filed against the other app

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