My indie app was named too close to competitors and I burnt my fingers
An indie developer created a Chrome extension named Simplehuman to replicate features of the email app Superhuman within Gmail. After receiving trademark infringement notices from both Superhuman and a home appliance company with the same name, the developer decided to rebrand rather than face legal costs. The extension was renamed CMDK, resulting in an 80% drop in organic traffic and significant time lost to rebranding efforts.
- ▪The developer built a Gmail Chrome extension called Simplehuman as a simpler alternative to Superhuman.
- ▪Superhuman and a home appliance company both sent trademark infringement notices over the name.
- ▪Legal counsel believed the developer could keep the name, but they chose to rebrand to avoid legal expenses.
- ▪The extension was renamed CMDK, referencing the command key shortcut in apps.
- ▪After rebranding, the product saw an 80% drop in organic traffic and required weeks of rebranding work.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
I am an indie developer building a chrome extension for Gmail.I was a heavy user of Superhuman (the email app) for a few years and found it too expensive. So, I built a chrome extension to replicate its behaviour within Gmail. I named it Simplehuman, because a simpler version of the same experience.It was all good for a few years until last month Superhuman reached out over a potential trademark infringement. They were surprisingly nice about it. But then another home appliance company with the same name also sent me a similar notice.While my legal counsel advised I had a case to continue with the same name, I would rather invest the money in building the business than pay lawyers on both ends.So I renamed it to CMDK - the hotkey that brings up the command bar in most apps.But this is…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Ycombinator.