Apple has announced that its new iOS 10 operating system will allow developers to pay to promote their apps at the top of relevant search results in the iPhone and iPad app stores. This potentially raises issues for trade mark owners and app developers, who might start seeing searches for their brands hijacked by other apps.

Users testing a beta version of the system have noticed that it allows developers to purchase priority placement against searches for the names of directly competing apps. For example, the following screenshot shows a competing app being promoted upon searching for Overcast, a popular podcasting app.