Apple sues Amazon for trademark infridgement

[Artashes]

Right after Amazon released its Appstore of Android applications, Apple has filed a lawsuit against the retailer for the use of the term "Appstore".

Amazon says it is using a different spelling of the word (as one word) while Apple uses them separately.

Do you think Apple is being reasonable to expect nobody else to use the term "app store" in the world where apps have become the new standard for mobile users, much like voice mail? Its all apps now, everywhere, all the time.

If you were the judge looking at this case, how would you have ruled?

 

[ez2hosting]

Apple doesn't care about the name (they have enough branding already!), what they care is about the competition, amazon could really wreck their market so now they're using their best tools available, they're going legal, this is just a message from Apple to Amazon saying "we're watching your every move, once you slip we'll eat you alive"

 

[HostMantis]

Apple doesn't care about the name (they have enough branding already!), what they care is about the competition, amazon could really wreck their market so now they're using their best tools available, they're going legal, this is just a message from Apple to Amazon saying "we're watching your every move, once you slip we'll eat you alive"

Definitely! So many people shop with Amazon that it would be easy for them to take a nice chunk of the market if they wanted to.

 

[ldcdc]

If you were the judge looking at this case, how would you have ruled?

While "Apple" will easily be identified by people as someone's brand, I doubt that's really the case with App Store. "App store" seems to me like "Veggies store", it's just a description, not a trademark. Any hypermarket chain can have a Veggies store, any software developer can have an App store.

 

[SenseiSteve]

I don't think Amazon will prevail in this suit, but hey, stranger things have happened.

 

[Artashes]

Definitely! So many people shop with Amazon that it would be easy for them to take a nice chunk of the market if they wanted to.

They are competing, but they are selling different products. Amazon sells Android-based apps, not iPod-based apps.

While "Apple" will easily be identified by people as someone's brand, I doubt that's really the case with App Store. "App store" seems to me like "Veggies store", it's just a description, not a trademark. Any hypermarket chain can have a Veggies store, any software developer can have an App store.

This is exactly how I look at it. While Apple might have trademarked "App Store" phrase, it has become a description. When someone says "app store" today, you do not think of Apple, you think of a great variety of outlets/retailers that might have an app store. For that reason, you cannot limit others in defining or using the description, since there is absolutely no mental connection between an app store and Apple.

 

[VPSWebServer.]

Appstore, there are so many things that really resemble as same brand name, and people have assumption, as such they are handled by totally different people.