Not so long ago, we told you about Apple’s big reveals including a new iOS 8 and an additional Apple HealthKit app that can monitor your health and fitness status.
Well, the news travel fast, and here we have some people from Australia complaining that the name HealthKit actually belongs to them. And pretty much the concept too. But let’s see in detail what this is all about.
HealthKit is a start-up based in Melbourne, Australia, which, according to the journalists investigating the problem,
It’s a global health platform connecting doctors and patients that’s ostensibly very similar to Apple’s planned iOS 8 platform. And, while based in Australia, it has users in a variety of English-speaking countries, including the U.S.
After Apple launched all the fireworks it could during its big release event, a torrent of tweets rolled out from the Australian company, all showing discontent with Apple’s choice of using their name. To make all things clear, the start-up uses this name long before Apple even thought about the iOS 8 and the added apps and perks.
The Apple HealthKit name seems to be a cruel play of hazard, however. Rumors say that the initial name of the app was HealthBook, a name we are all familiar with. But it seems that Apple decided to change the name from HealthBook to HealthKit in the last minute, due to the extended amount of rumors, leaks and prophecies related to the app.
Did they even consider to check if the name wasn’t already taken? Are we talking about a trademark infringement here? We don’t know yet, as Apple refused to comment on the issue so far.
However, the owner of the real HealthKit start-up is still upset about to the problem.
It is very flattering that they like our name, but I’m a little let down because how hard would it have been to spend five seconds to put HealthKit.com into their browser and find us?” Alison Hardacre, co-founder and managing director of HealthKit told Wired. “Everybody worries that Google or Apple will come into their space and their business will die, but no one thinks that company will come into that space and use the same name!
As you can imagine, the HealthKit official website registered an avalanche of visitors and page views, which, under normal circumstances, would be a great thing for the company. Unfortunately, people are looking for the Apple HealthKit in the wrong place and this cannot be good for either of the two companies.
It’s strange for Apple to make a mistake like this, considering the tech giant has an open obsession with trademarking everything to cover their basis when it comes to developing a new product. If more information on the subject show up, be sure we will keep you posted. In the meantime, if you’re planning to test the Apple HealthKit app, make sure you know where to look for it!
