Spent a year building "Cleo"... got to launch and realised the name was effectively unusable
Figured this one was worth sharing because it's the kind of mistake that's easy to avoid.
I've been building an app called Cleo for the past year. History learning for adults - short lessons, quizzes, mascot based on Cleopatra. I LOVED the name. Short, friendly, mapped onto the identity I wanted.
The app went live on the App Store. Unpromoted and near-zero users, I was focused on nailing the experience before pouring time into marketing.
Then I started planning the actual launch with ASO research, keyword analysis, App Store keyword strategy. And the obvious-in-hindsight problem hit me:
There's a UK/US fintech called Cleo. VC-backed, massive ad spend, dominates every search you can imagine that contains the word "Cleo".
I knew about Cleo when I started but I didn't think it would matter. Different industry (fintech vs education), different audience and different product. Surely there's room for two "Cleo"s.
Wrong. Trademark law and discoverability are different problems.
You can legally coexist with another company that has the same name in a different class. I'd be fine on that front: different goods/services, no infringement claim. But that doesn't help me when:
- Google searches for "Cleo" return the fintech first, second, third, and forever
- App Store search rankings prioritise established apps with the same name. And then it priorities ALL of Cleo's competitors, before others. Like if you search for BBC, the second hit is Sky News.
- Social handles gone
- The .com is taken, the .app is taken
- Anyone who hears "Cleo app" assumes I mean the budgeting one
- Marketing would have to constantly say "the OTHER Cleo"
It doesn't matter that we're in different markets. SEO and ASO don't care about industry, the brand was functionally unusable for organic discovery even when the law says I'm fine.
So I'm rebranding, the new plan is a parent company, and then have a brand within it. The actual work this kicked off:
- New limited company
- New domain
- Google Workspace secondary domain
- New bundle ID
- Rebrand 283 "Cleo" references across 69 files in the Flutter codebase (guestimate)
- New Firebase app entries
- New AdMob ad units
- Full new brand kit and marketing
- New App Store Connect listing
- Eventually pull Cleo from sale
Probably 4–6 weeks of admin and code work for what should have been a 30-minute trademark + ASO check at the very start of the project.
The lesson, if you're reading this and about to fall in love with a name:
Before you write a single line of code, spend two hours doing this:
- Search the UK IPO, EUIPO, and USPTO trademark databases for your name in your target classes (Class 9 for software, Class 41 for education/entertainment, Class 42 for SaaS)
- Google your name with "app" appended. Look at the App Store results. If there's an established competitor in the top 10 - even in a different category - you're fighting uphill forever
- Check social handles
- Check the .com / .app / .ai domains
- Check Companies House (if UK) or equivalent for conflicts
If any of those return a material problem: pick a different name. The 2-hour cost up front saves you 4–6 weeks of rebranding work later.
Anyway, building in public and hoping to (re)launch in 6 weeks, wish me luck.