Some iPhone developers are having trouble finding good names for their applications as it seems that some unscrupulous developers are “name squatting” on the App Store.
The problem developers, which iPhone developer Atomic Antelope calls “worse than domain name squatters,” are taking advantage of a loophole in Apple’s application submission system that lets developers partially register an app name without needing to actually submit the application.
Recombu reports that not only are the names then considered taken, even though no application is submitted, but Apple also fails to disclose details of developers who have submitted a given application name, leaving developers planning on a given name for their app with no way to contact the squatter or other developer who has previously submitted the name.