A block-by-block tracking app formerly known as WalkNYC is now called Sidewalk, after the city alleged trademark infringement and demanded a name change.
The app, which tracks walking routes around New York City, changed its name Thursday. The switch comes after the city’s Department of Transportation in July sent a cease-and-desist letter to the app developer, saying the name infringed on the agency’s trademarked wayfinding program, WalkNYC, as The City Reporter previously detailed.
DOT’s WalkNYC helps pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders navigate the city with maps and directions in high-traffic public places, including subway stations and near Citi Bike docks.
Nick Paolucci, a spokesperson for the city Law Department, said the name change is part of an agreement in the works between the city and app developer.
“We have a settlement in principle and we expect a final resolution in the coming days,” he said.
The app developer, Joe Puccio, declined to comment on the settlement before it was finalized, but said in a statement that the name Sidewalk “was a very natural choice” that reflected how the best way to explore the city is on foot.
A DOT spokesperson referred to an agency statement from August that indicated appreciation for New Yorkers’ enthusiasm for strolling and noted the department wanted to avoid mix-ups with the wayfinding program. Puccio’s app used colors and an icon of a walking person that were similar to the branding of the city’s program.
‘Potential Confusion Is Less Likely’
In the cease-and-desist letter, the DOT pointed out the app “caused confusion to locals and visitors and intimates that the City of New York is affiliated.” The agency told the app to stop using WalkNYC branding, disable the website and app and remove physical and online materials promoting it.
Despite the name change, Puccio appears to have maintained the app’s visual identity, including the same walking person icon.
But that name change is probably sufficient to comply with the main demand of the cease-and-desist, according to Tracy Jong, senior attorney at the law firm Evans Fox LLP who works on intellectual property.
“It changes the overall commercial impression such that potential confusion is less likely,” Jong wrote in an email.
Lawyer Stacy Grossman, founder of the intellectual property firm SGIP, agreed.
“The City doesn’t own trademark registrations for SIDEWALK, and several third parties already use similar walking-person icons for walking apps,” she said over email. “As long as the app doesn’t otherwise suggest an affiliation with the City, I think the name change should resolve the concern.”
‘A Love Letter’ to NYC
The app has garnered dedicated users who enjoy tracking their pavement-pounding progress. After he got the cease-and-desist letter, Puccio added a prompt to the app for users to submit a form telling the DOT why they used the tool. He said he received responses from more than 1,000 people.
His app first became available on Apple’s App Store in May. It logs each city block that users walk by marking routes on a digital map. A leaderboard shows how users compare to one another, and the app includes statistics about mileage and time spent strolling. Puccio said he plans to soon add the ability to track museums and parks visited, among other destinations.
He told The City Reporter he made the app as “a love letter” to New York City and it has helped him “explore parts of the city I’d never been to.” He has walked just over a quarter of Manhattan’s blocks so far, he added.
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