What's in a name?
On December 6, 2010, the application formerly known as My Writing Nook changed its name to My Writing Spot. We threw a press conference, but nobody came. If someone had, it might have gone something like this:
Q: So uh, what's with the name change?
A: The company that holds the trademark for the word "nook" (try to guess who that might be) decided that My Writing Nook was too similar to their trademark, and we were asked to change our name.
Q: Wait, isn't "nook" a common English word?
A: Yes.
Q: And wasn't your name "My Writing Nook," and not just "nook"?
A: Yes.
Q: But your product is software used for writing, and theirs is a piece of hardware used for reading. Aren't those two completely different things?
A: Yes, they are.
Q: So you would have to be a complete moron to confuse the two?
A: Yes.
Q: Hmmm. Didn't My Writing Nook come out before that reading gadget was even announced?
A: Yes, it did.
Q: Well, then none of this really makes a whole lot of sense, right?
A: Yes. Er - I mean no. Huh?
Q: So why didn't you fight back? After all, you gotta fight, for your right, to nook!
A: Basically, I was advised by my legal counsel that in situations such as this, where each party has a claim to a trademarked term, the side with the deeper pockets wins. Obviously, I wasn't on that side. I'm just an independent developer that wants to keep making quality software for writers - I don't want to deal with a drawn-out legal battle.
Q: What other names did you consider besides My Writing Spot?
A: At one point, we were thinking about renaming it My Writing Cranny, but the english muffin people got bent out of shape about that. We also considered Kindle My Writing, but decided it was too obscure. Nobody uses the word kindle these days.
Q: Aren't you worried that someone will now claim that you are infringing on the word "spot?"
A: That was definitely a concern. We were worried that perhaps the International Dalmatian League would come after us (we hear that their legal team is 101 strong), but we threw them a bone and they agreed to leave us alone.
Q: How will this change affect your users?
A: Besides being subjected to a bunch of bad puns, hopefully, not at all. In fact, we looked at this as an opportunity to add a bunch of functionality to the mobile apps, which we hope our users will be quite pleased with.
Q: But isn't it so much easier to sulk and be bitter?
A: I suppose it is, but we were so busy working on the name change and the enhancements, and our NaNoWriMo novels that we just didn't have the time.
Q: What is the difference between a spot and a nook anyways?
A: Apparently, it's a bunch of lawyers, and a large legal war chest. OK, so maybe we're a little bitter.
If there are any further questions about the name change or any of the My Writing Spot apps, please contact the developer at mywritingspot@gmail.com