Extension removed due to Google's YouTube word trademark

[Pedro]

Hello,

My extension was removed only for US residents in september of 2023, the email I received from cws-tra...@google.com states that 'my use of YOUTUBE RED is in violation of their branding guidelines'. At the time, I was using an image with the YouTube play button on it as the 'small promo tile' image, I believe this is what caused the infringement. 

I removed the image and notified them about it by responding the email, and they responded that they can't reinstate the extension at this time because of the violation and that I can only create a new item.

Is there really nothing I can do to have my extension available for US residents again?

Thanks.

Case: 20-1535856

Trademark: YOUTUBE RED
Item URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-tweaks/oeakphpfoaeggagmgphfejmfjbhjfhhh?hl=en&gl=US
Complaint details: Infringement of Google's YouTube word trademark.

[Ayissi Joachim]

Hi,Coordonnées du développeur
language
Site Web
https://www.ecwid.com
email:  ayissijo...@gmail.com
E-mail:  mob...@ecwid.com
sup...@ecwidcom6436.zendesk.com
place
Adresse
460 Park Ave S 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016, United States
verified_user
Règles de confidentialité
https://www.lightspeedhq.com/legal/privacy-policy/
sup...@ecwidcom6436.zendesk.com

Thank you for your interest in Google Marketing Platform.

At Google Marketing Platform, we work with a number of Technology Partners to introduce clients to Google Marketing Platform when their levels of anticipated spend require flexible terms and minimums.

Our partners can offer both self service and supported access to our platforms, along with a strong service layer and training (if needed) to assure you get the most out of Google Marketing Platform.

If it'd be helpful, we'd be very happy to introduce you to one of our Partners to set-up an introductory conversation but, in order to better understand your needs, could we please ask you for just a few more details:

What is your company's website address?460 Park Ave S 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016, United States
What is your country coverage?  UNITED  STATE  OF  AMERICA
How many employees does your company have?  15
Which Google Marketing Platform are you interested in (Display & Video 360, Campaign Manager 360, Search Ads 360)? yes   all is very important
Are you using any ad tech platforms at the moment or have you used any previously?  yes
What are your current search and display spend levels? $2500
Are you planning on having your in-house team use/manage Google Marketing Platform directly? If so, how many people are you 25 planning to have using the Google Marketing Platform?  yes

Thanks,
Google Marketing Platform Partnerships Support

Dear Manager,

 thank you for visiting and validating my company from my city and my account has been checked all correct thank you thank you but I would have to send you other documents such as an administrative letter from our company with the members of administration and company stamp making liver thank you I beg you to be able to program all my funds for bank investment real estate investment bank loan lottery in bank States A States for program and investment loan and repayable to the Company Establishment Ayissi Joachim cella will be for life and also for the other investment in the program with my country Cameroon cella guide has worked with reliable investment agreements such as agriculture tourism trade and transport a general guide with global business climates with the world here is what we intend to do
---------------------------------------
First Name :AYISSI  
Last Name :JOACHIM
Gender :MALE
Date of Birth :27/  03/   1967
Address :RUE   MARCHE  CENTRAL DOUALA CAMEROON
Postcode :17474
Country :CAMEROON
Phone No :237694616643
Email :xxxjoa...@yahoo.com
Occupation :CONSULTANT   ANALYSE  MARKETS
Monthly Income:$1800

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Of Kin:AYISSI  JOACHIM
Pays/région : Cameroon
Plateforme : Windows
Navigateur : Firefox
Adresse IP : 154.72.167.4
PC, Windows 7
Cameroon · 154.72.167.86 · Firefox 115.0

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Contact: AYISSI JOACHIM
E-mail: xxxjoa...@yahoo.com
CellPhone: 237694616643
Software: Rent - Payment Platform Whitelabel
Country: Cameroon - Cameroon e Cameroun
Message: Name: AYISSI Joachim
              Address e_mail : ayissi_...@yahoo.com
              Phone. : (237) 677 89 16 02/694 61 66 43


Bank  Name : Union  Bank  PLC
BANK  ADRESSE: PObox 15569  Douala  Cameoon
Bank Account Name :   AYISSI  JOACHIM
Bank ACCOUNT  NUMBER  : 00410017574
BANK SWIFT : UCMACMCX
IBAN :CM21  10023  00040  00410017574  54

____________________________________________________
NEW IDENTIFICATION
              Name: ETABISSEMENT  AYISSI  JOACHIM
              Address e_mail : xxxjoa...@yahoo.com
              BP. : 17474  DOUALA - Cameroon
              Phone. : (237) 677 89 16 02
              Bank Name - UNITED  BANK OF AFRICA
           
https://www.ecwid.com
email:  ayissijo...@gmail.com
E-mail:  mob...@ecwid.com
sup...@ecwidcom6436.zendesk.com
place
Adresse
460 Park Ave S 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016, United States
verified_user
Règles de confidentialité
https://www.lightspeedhq.com/legal/privacy-policy/
sup...@ecwidcom6436.zendesk.com

            AccounT ,Naime ; ETS  AYISSI  JOACHIM
            Account  Number ; 07016001289
            BANK CODE      SWIFT : UNAFCMCX
___________________________________________________
 https://geekfeminism.fandom.com/wiki/User_talk:Ayissijoachim
https://www.instagram.com/ayissi_joachim
https://twitter.com/JoachimAyi47226
https://www.facebook.com/joachim.ayissi
https://www.pinterest.com/ayissijoachim/
https://www.linkedin.com/ayissijoachim
https://www.youtube.com/@ayissijoachim4632
https://github.com/ayissijoachim122
  ayissijoachim122/AYISSI-JOACHIM

[Pedro]

What I have tried so far:

- Replyed to the cws notification with the changes made to the item (Item is still restricted after 1 year)

- Opened a appeal with One Stop Support (Still no response after 1 year)

- Opened another appeal more recently in 3 May 2025 (Still waiting a response since then)

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Pedro,

For cases like this, usually we need the trademark holder to confirm that they are happy to reinstate the item. Did you receive a separate email from YouTube or only one from the trademarks team?

As a note, personally I'd be a bit worried about the current naming of the item as well. Most extensions I see made by a third-party are named "Something for Product Name" - I wouldn't be surprised if the name of your extension is also flagged in the future, so you may want to consider changing that.

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

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[Pedro]

Hi Oliver, thanks for replying.

I only received one email from the trademarks team. It's still not clear to me what in my item violates their trademark, as they are very vague about it. I don't see how it could be the name since there so many other extensions with a name that starts with 'YouTube', and they don't have any restriction.

I also find weird that it was only blocked in the US and nowhere else.

This was their original email:

Hello,

Your Chrome Web Store item, YouTube Tweaks

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-tweaks/oeakphpfoaeggagmgphfejmfjbhjfhhh?hl=en&gl=US does not comply with our policies because your use of YOUTUBE RED  is in violation of our branding guidelines found here. As a result, your item was removed from the Chrome Web Store. 

We have included the relevant details from the original notice we received for your reference below:

Trademark: YOUTUBE RED
Item URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-tweaks/oeakphpfoaeggagmgphfejmfjbhjfhhh?hl=en&gl=US
Complaint details: Infringement of Google's YouTube word trademark.

If you would like to resubmit your item, please make the appropriate changes so that it complies with our policies, and then republish it in your developer dashboard. Once you have republished, please reply to this email with screenshots that show the changes so that we may re-review the item accordingly.

Please keep in mind that your resubmitted item will not be immediately published live in the store. All resubmitted items undergo a strict compliance review and will only be republished if they pass the review. Repeated or egregious violations in the store may result in your developer account being banned from the Chrome Web Store. In addition, such violations may result in the suspension of related Google services associated with your Google account. All resubmitted items will continue to be subject to Chrome Web Store policies and terms of service.

If you have any further questions or concerns about this issue, please let us know by responding to this email directly. 

Regards,

The Chrome Web Store Team

Their reply after I notified them about the changes I made to the item:

`Thank you for your message. We appreciate your concern regarding the status of your item.  However, we will not reinstate the item at this time because your use of YouTube Red was in violation of our branding guidelines found here. If your account is still in good standing and the nature of your item allows for republishing, you may consider releasing a new, non-infringing version of your item to the Chrome Web Store under a new item name.

If you have any further questions or concerns about this issue, please directly reply to the original notification of removal regarding this item sent on 28/09/23.

Regards,
The Chrome Web Store Team

Regards,

Google Legal Support Team`

[Mythical 5th]

Pedro,

Your listing does not use the trademark the legal team has cited, and that trademark is not included in the list linked from the Branding guidelines, so I can understand why there would be some confusion.

However, you *are* using the Youtube trademark, which *is* in the list of registered trademarks, and you have added an appropriate disclaimer to your extension's description in accordance with the "Giving proper attribution" section of the guidelines.

That section contains an example of an acceptable use of a Google trademark, which is “Highlight local shops for Google Maps™”.

Despite the apparent mistakes in the legal team's email and in Google's guidelines, I would not expect them to back down unless you change the name of your extension to be in line with the acceptable name example. That name would be “Tweaks for YouTube™”.

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Pedro,

Thanks for your patience.

I believe the team has just followed up on your case with more information - I hope this is helpful.

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[Deco]

Copyright disputes are manual, they are not automatic. It means you weren't "unfairly targeted", because CWS guidelines are very clear on this policy. It also means those other extensions are not potentially guilty, but it also doesn't mean they've done anything wrong, everything depends on the context of product intent and other things which you won't have access to.

Thanks,

Deco

On Tue, 13 May 2025, 10:10 Pedro, <qedro...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi, thanks for your help,

They have agreed to reinstate the item after a name change, but I don't think it's fair that other extensions with the same name structure (Google product Something) as my item's previous name can be freely available in the chrome web store and not my extension. Shouldn't they also have to have their names changed?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/chromium-extensions/dd215437-2690-4cf5-8caa-0e198ebdc467n%40chromium.org.

[Pedro]

Thanks for the clarification.