Guideline 5.2 Intellectual Property: brands, third-party content, and Apple's own trademarks

Section 5 is Legal, and it's the second most-cited section in Apple's 2025 Transparency Report: 495,673 rejections, behind only Performance. Two neighbouring rules overlap with 5.2 — Guideline 4.1 for copying another app's name, icon or design, and Guideline 2.3.7 for trademarked terms in keywords.

5.2.1 says “don't use protected third-party material such as trademarks, copyrighted works, or patented ideas in your app without permission.” Apps that control hardware or connect to a named product get this often. An April 2024 rejection, posted on Apple's forums:

That's the choice for every 5.2 rejection: prove you have the rights, or take the material out. Apple's App Review help lists what counts as proof for 4.1, 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 cases — “trademark or rights documentation, such as a signed contract, electronic communication (emails, messaging-service screenshots), video recordings, or licensing documents” — and asks you to attach it before you submit.

The last sentence of 5.2.1 catches agencies and freelancers: “Apps should be submitted by the person or legal entity that owns or has licensed the intellectual property and other relevant rights.” In October 2024 a developer got this:

If you're paying someone to build your app, it should be submitted from your own Apple Developer account, under your company name. That's how our App Studio ships client apps: built for you, published under your account.

5.2.2 asks that if your app uses or displays content from a third-party service, you “ensure that you are specifically permitted to do so under the service's terms of use. Authorization must be provided upon request.” A repost tool learned this in August 2020: “your app allows users to upload photos or videos to third-party services that do not support this functionality… please remove any features or functionality that allow users to alter third-party social media accounts.”

5.2.3 is blunter: no saving, converting or downloading media “from third-party sources (e.g. Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, etc.) without explicit authorization from those sources.” It also flags streaming that merely looks unlicensed. An April 2022 rejection for “potentially unauthorized access to third-party audio or video streaming” hit an app that streamed only its creator's own voice recordings. The fix was documentary evidence: a signed statement from the rights holder.

Apple's App Store marketing guidelines set the naming rule: use Apple product names “in a referential phrase to indicate that your app is compatible with these products. For example, say app name for iPhone or app name for iPad… Don't say iPhone app name.” They also say “Apple Vision Pro” can't be in your app name at all, only in the description.

• Apple emoji. 5.2.5: apps and extensions, “including third-party keyboards and Sticker packs, may not include Apple emoji.”
• Device images. Apple's marketing guidelines say to use Apple product images “as is” — no added reflections, cropping, tilting or icons made from a product image.
• Look-alikes. No app that's “confusingly similar” to an Apple product, interface or app such as the App Store or Messages.
• Apple Music previews can't be used as background music for their entertainment value.

1. 01

   Identify the exact material

   The message names the brand, service or Apple mark. Search your app, metadata, screenshots, icon and keyword field for every appearance of it.

2. 02

   Decide: prove or remove

   If you have rights, gather the contract, licence or written permission. If you don't, remove the material everywhere — Apple asks for both “your app and its metadata”.

3. 03

   Attach evidence in App Review Information

   Apple reviews documentation before continuing; legal reviews can take longer, so send it complete the first time.

4. 04

   Fix the account if the name is wrong

   If the seller name doesn't match the brand, resubmit from the brand owner's account or ask Developer Support to update the company name.

5. 05

   Upload a new build if the app changed

   Icon and in-app content need a new build; name, subtitle and keyword changes are metadata on the rejected version.

Hello App Review team,

Thank you for the feedback on Guideline 5.2.[1/2/3/5].

[If you have the rights]
We are authorized to use [brand/content] in the app. A [signed licence /
written permission from [owner], dated [date]] is attached in App Review
Information.

[If you removed it]
We removed [brand/content] from the app (build [number]), the app name,
subtitle, keywords, description and screenshots.

Thank you,
[Name]

5.2 works in your favour too. Apple's App Store dispute forms include an App Store Content Dispute, for apps that violate your intellectual property, and an App Name Dispute, if an app is “preventing you from using your trademark as an app name.” Apple says it contacts the other developer and asks them to work with you directly. It doesn't investigate claims about branded terms used as Search Ads keywords.