The market is crowded with “what-to-do-in-NYC” apps — including offerings from the New York Times and New York magazine as well as consumer review-centric apps like Yelp and Urbanspoon. But Time Out New York hopes to appeal to a base of local readers who trust its editorial brand and already read the magazine and website. The company’s iPad app offers a “personalized, citywide recommendation engine,” and the iPhone app provides info on arts, entertainment and venues. (An Android version is on the way.)

Time Out New York is also adding restaurant reservations, though a partnership with Open Table, and theater ticketing to its website. Eventually, it will expand to offer tickets to other types of events as well.

In addition, the company is launching daily deals and other special offers. New York City is particularly saturated with daily deals, but Time Out North America president Askel van der Wal says the offers will “fit with what we stand for as a brand. We’re not suddenly [offering] teeth whitening.”

Venture capital firm Oakley Capital Investments purchased a majority stake in Time Out New York last year and Time Out London already offers daily deals and ticketing.

In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the publisher of the Village Voice claimed that the Nov. 3 issue of *Time* Out New York infringed its trademark rights. The issue in question has the phrase “Best of NYC” on its cover in sparkly lights and includes a series of recommendations for categories like “Off-Broadway” and “Place to hang out with cute lesbians.”

To fix the problem, the Village Voice publisher wants the magazine to hand over its profits and for the court to grant an order directing *Time* Out New York to “recall and destroy or surrender” the offending magazines. The Village Voice’s claim may be a long shot — the term “Best of” is about as unique as New York’s ubiquitous Ray’s Pizza joints.

“My first reaction is that it sounds like a hard claim to prove,” said Gianni Servodidio, a trademark expert at the firm Jenner & Block. He added that *Time* Out New York can beat the claim by persuading a judge that the mark is generic or descriptive. If the court finds that “Best of NYC” is generic, it can kill the mark altogether.

The lawsuit comes at a time of ongoing controversies surrounding the Village Voice and larger questions about its relevance. The publication, launched in 1955 by Norman Mailer and two others, was for decades an intellectual icon that attracted a stable of famous literary figures like Allen Ginsberg and R. Crumb. In recent years, though, its influence has waned as its audience has branched out to other publications like *Time* Out, Gothamist.com and New York magazine (whose “Best of” section can be found here).

Village Voice complaint