Just the other day we reported that Facebook had launched a new app called Rooms. The idea of the app was to allow the creation of forums in which users could participate in them anonymous, as opposed to Facebook pages where your real name could be shown. However it turns out that perhaps Facebook’s idea might not have been so original after all.
According to Room Inc., the developers of the Room app (not to be confused with Rooms), they are alleging that Facebook has copied their idea and are at the moment considering taking legal action against the social network. Damien Rottemberg, the co-founder and CTO of Room was surprised to see Facebook’s app released.
“We’re sure this is not a coincidence. We don’t understand how Facebook, with all their lawyers, could have released an app with the same name and features. We won’t let this happen and we want to defend all entrepreneurs with great ideas and great visions.” Rottemberg can’t be 100% sure how this happened, but safe to say he is not thrilled.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has gotten into trouble over their apps. Developer FiftyThree weren’t happy about Facebook calling their app “Paper” which was also the name of their app which they released first, and Instagram’s Bolt app also ran into naming issues with another similarly named app.
However the issue with Rooms is more than just the name, but in terms of features as well, or so the company claims. Facebook has yet to respond to the allegations, but what say you? Happy coincidence or did Facebook really just copy another developer’s app and name?