Apple Sues Amazon over its About-to-Open "Appstore"
Appstore or App Store?
Let's first get this straight. Appstore (lowercase "s" and no space) is the name of Amazon's newly opened Android store. App Store belongs to iPhone and iPad behemoth, Apple. App Store clearly came first.
Now that that's out of the way, you may have heard that Apple filed suit last week charging that Amazon has violated its App Store trademark. The Battle of the Apps is going to be quite the spectacle.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the Northern District of California, claims that users will be confused as to whether Amazon's Appstore is sanctioned by Apple, reports The Wall Street Journal. This isn't the real motivation behind the lawsuit.
Amazon's Appstore sells apps for Android phones and tablets. For those of you out there who utilize Google-powered smart phones, the opening of this store is believed to be a big change in how users find Android apps, as Amazon is a common factor in most people's Internet shopping lexicon.
This presents a problem for Apple. The company is currently fighting with Google for dominance in the mobile operating system market, and Amazon's Appstore makes the Android more attractive.
What makes the App Store v. Appstore battle even more ridiculous is that Microsoft is currently challenging Apple's App Store trademark through the USPTO's appeals process. It's arguing that the term is generic in the industry.
It doesn't end here.
Microsoft also filed suit against Barnes & Noble last week, alleging that the chain's Nook e-reader infringes on its patents. The reader's interface utilizes Google's Android.
Related Resources:
- Apple sues Amazon over 'Appstore' name, alleging trademark infringement (Los Angeles Times)
- Microsoft Patent Infringement Suit Against Barnes & Noble (FindLaw's Courtside)
- FCC to Apple: Why the Google iPhone App Ban? (FindLaw's Technologist)
