Facebook is moving to get many of the unofficial Facebook apps removed from the Windows Phone Store. In a letter to Microsoft, Facebook lists 41 apps that it "believes in good faith... infringe Facebook's trademark rights". Theoretically, Microsoft could revoke all the apps listed, but more likely is that they will be removed from the Windows Phone Store, which means they will no longer be available for download.
The move comes as no real surprise, especially after the recent release of an improved official Facebook beta app, but may still annoy some consumers who have come to rely on a third party app. Nonetheless it hard to argue with Facebook's supposition than consumers may become confused. A quick search for "Facebook" in the Windows Phone Store reveals tens of app making direct use of the Facebook name or branding.
The first earch result is the official Facebook app, but many of the other app names and icons are clearly misleading, with name like Facebook Pro and Facebook+.
The letter from Facebook to Microsoft has also been circulated to the developers of the apps listed as infringing. One of the developers, JDB Pocketware, yesterday posted an image of the letter onto Facebook, together with a note that they intend to remove the app themselves but hope "it will be back under a different name/branding" and encourage their fans to "stay tuned".
This app name and branding change, and subsequent app re-submission, strategy is one we would expect the most popular of the third party Facebook apps to go through, but it's inevitable that some apps will disappear altogether.
