Nothing launches under the original's identity. This skill is the line between "a clone" and "your app".
Tool in this folder:
python3 sweep.py . --avoid "Original Name,Its Company" --domains original.com --colors "#006bff"
python3 sweep.py . --config replica/brand.json # same, from the brand file
Writes replica/brand.md and replica/brand.json (avoid, domains,
colors, used by sweep.py, listing.py and replica-deploy).
Step 1: the name
Read the angle from replica/fixes.md. Generate 20 candidates across styles:
descriptive (Booklink), compound (Slotwise), invented (Calvo), metaphor
(Harbor), verb (Book). Then cut to 5 with these filters:
- Not confusingly similar to the original in sound, look or meaning, and not to any other app in the same category. That is the test trademark offices use, so it is the test here. No puns on their name, no "-ly" twin.
- Short, spellable after hearing it once, no awkward meaning in big languages.
- Says something about the angle, or at least does not fight it.
Step 2: the checks, run, not assumed
For each of the 5, a row per check. Mark each to run, or the result with the date it was run. Never write "available" for a check nobody ran.
| check | where |
|---|---|
| US trademark | tmsearch.uspto.gov, the app's class (usually 9 and 42) |
| EU trademark | euipo.europa.eu eSearch, or TMview for many offices |
| Canada | ised-isde.canada.ca trademarks database |
| global | WIPO Global Brand Database |
| domain | whois name.com, or the registrar's search |
| App Store and Play | search the exact name |
| handles | X, Instagram, TikTok, GitHub |
| the web | search "name + category" |
These are screening checks, not legal clearance. Before spending money on the name, a trademark lawyer should do a proper search.
Step 3: palette
A new palette, written into the same token roles replica-design set up. Pick a primary brand hue from a different family than the original's (if theirs is blue, yours is not a nearby blue). Then:
python3 ../replica-design/contrast.py replica/design/tokens.json
Zero AA failures. Add the original's brand colours to brand.json so the
sweep catches any that survive.
Step 4: logo brief
Not a logo, a brief for whoever makes it (the user, a designer, an image model):
- the idea in one line, tied to the name and angle
- mark type: wordmark, symbol plus wordmark, or monogram
- must work at 16px (favicon) and as a 1024px app icon
- deliverables: SVG, app icon 1024x1024 with no transparency for iOS, favicon set, social image 1200x630
- must not resemble the original's mark: no shared shape, colour pair or letterform trick. Put the original's logo next to the drafts and check.
Step 5: voice
Three words for how it sounds, with what each does not mean ("direct, not blunt"). Five do and don't pairs. Then rewrite the 10 most-seen strings in the clone (sign up, empty states, the main button, the confirmation, the error) in that voice. All fresh, none echoing the original's phrasing.
Step 6: the sweep
Replace every placeholder name, colour and string. Then:
python3 sweep.py . --config replica/brand.json
It searches file contents and file names for the original's name (also inside
identifiers like CalendlyEmbed), domains and colours, skipping
node_modules, build output and the replica/ planning folder. Exit 1 means
something is left. Fix until it says clean. Also check by eye: the favicon,
the page titles, the email templates, the OG image, the app icon.
Output
replica/brand.md (name with checks, palette, logo brief, voice),
replica/brand.json, updated tokens, rewritten strings, and a clean sweep.
Next: /replica-launch.