I've had my popular mobile application almost exactly cloned. The developers used the exact same images, flows, etc...and on the product page used the exact same screenshots as mine. Their app had a 1:1 likeness with mine. They even put my product/company name in their keywords so their product would show up when customers searched for mine.
My product remained successful, but they also did quite well too.
Because the application was successful it did receive a bit of press. I didn't actually ever directly talk about how much money I was making, or how many downloads I had, but I'm sure most could have made a decent educated guess at both based on App Store ranking and the press coverage.
Hmmm. Maybe I'm the minority, but I can't extrapolate those data points to even begin to understand the ballpark. I have an app tucked away somewhere that has a huge amount of traffic and a great rank in its marketplace. If I were to provide the stats and the context, you might assume I was making a killing, and you'd be wrong.
Honest question. In what way would it not have been appropriate to sue them for every single cent in sales that they made, since in fact they did not make it, you made it. (They used your name, your screenshots, to sell your software.) Given that people were searching for it and they were selling the result, I fully think the damages are their total sales. (Which you could do discovery on). It's not like App Store applications are fly-by-night third-world country servers: there is a process in place to become a developer and Apple knows everything regarding it. If it isn't too late, why not sue them for every penny of your profit that they stole?
valid point. Do you think an email early on where you DON'T share that you know this fact, but just seem like an angry dude who will sue them if they keep stealing his profit, would have had a chance of stopping them selling the guy's software with his screenshots and his software's name as keywords, etc?
The idea that you can build buzz for your product and have the exact same screenshots you're building buzz with be used to trick people into thinking they're in contact with you, but it's some shady fly by night, is just unacceptable to me.
How would you feel if this company http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3955265 went even farther than it currently does with it's 'tribute' title and (hypothetical example, not to pick on them!) actually used YCombinator all over its keywords, and had pixel-for-pixel YCombinator's front page, which they stole, to trick people into thinking they're the YCombinator site, and in every way were virtually identical to the confusion of searchers?
This kind of commercial ripoff activity was resolved legally hundreds of years ago. It's unacceptable.
My product remained successful, but they also did quite well too.