Apple sues Amazon over usage of “App Store” mark
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple has filed a compliant against Amazon for using “App Store” in the context of the “Amazon Appstore Developer Program,” (as of 10:42 EDT, Amazon still hasn’t taken down the reference) which will apparently be some kind of Android app stor… err, online market for, well, “apps.”
You may recall that we discussed the issues associated with Apple’s application for the “appstore” trademark in some detail on Podcast 92. In sum, Microsoft thinks this mark is generic (and is separately challenging it before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board). I think there is a better argument that this mark is merely descriptive, without a strong secondary meaning. On the other hand, there are only so many ways to describe a online marketplace (a “store”) of software applications (“apps”) without implicating those two words together. So, it’s quite possible that a judge may hold Apple’s claimed mark to fail both for genericide and descriptiveness. Either way, it seems like a tough claim for Apple to defend.
Just about every major tech blog and news site is now carrying this story; but, I’ve yet to see the actual compliant. Once I find that I will post it back here.
3/22 update: Apple v. Amazon compliant added.
