Phandroid managed to get its hands on a trademark from LG for an app named “Meerkat.” Obviously that app already exists, and is one of this year’s surprise hits, so there’s no way LG would be able to trademark that name unless it had acquired the original Meerkat. The patent even describes a live streaming service that’s almost identical to what Meerkat already provides. While this is far from confirmed, the evidence does suggest that LG has acquired Meerkat.
When Meerkat launched back in February for iOS, nobody could have predicted it would have been as popular as it was. Countless apps have — and still do — allow for anyone to live stream whatever it is they like using a smartphone. Whatever the reason behind its success, it didn’t take long before rumors of big named tech companies swooping in to buy them up began circulating around the net. The most likely (and fitting) prospect was social media giant Facebook, who could use Meerkat to bolster their growing portfolio of social media apps. But after looking through recent trademark filings, is it possible a popular Android manufacturer snatched them up before anyone else? We managed to dig up a trademark LG recently acquired for the name “Meerkat.” While that doesn’t let us know if that is the same live streaming app that’s become so popular in recent months, the description certainly sounds like it. According to the trademark, LG’s “Meerkat” sounds eerily similar to the live streaming functionality of the already available Meerkat app.
