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Apple Legal Filing Cites Fear of 'Inferior' Amazon Appstore Tarnishing its Reputation

Friday June 10, 2011 12:55 pm PDT by Eric Slivka

The trademark dispute between Apple and Amazon over the term "App Store" continues to play out, with Computerworld noting that a new filing by Apple clarifies the company's stance that it fears a tarnishing of its reputation by association with the "inferior" Amazon Appstore for Android.

In a filing on Wednesday, Apple countered Amazon's claim that "app store" is a generic label, and repeated its demand that the court issue a preliminary injunction barring Amazon from using the similar "appstore" to market its Android app download center.

"Amazon mischaracterizes Apple's tarnishment claim," Apple said in the June 8 reply to an earlier Amazon filing. "Apple has not asserted that the Android operating system is inferior. Rather, Apple has asserted that Amazon's service is inferior and will tarnish Apple's mark."

In its filing, Apple also expresses concern over the Amazon Appstore's offering of apps that bypass security mechanisms built into the Android platform, as well as a number of cases of malicious or pirated apps that have appeared in Android app marketplaces. Apple fears that having the word "app store" associated with such types of applications will tarnish the reputation of Apple's relatively tightly-regulated App Store.

Apple has also taken the opportunity to point to Amazon's new Mac download store as an example of how Amazon can offer application download services without using the "app store" term.

Apple has been trying since July 2008 to have the U.S. Patent and Trademark Organization grant its trademark application for the "App Store" term. In the process, Apple has reached out to companies it believes are infringing on the mark, as would be required for a granted trademark lest it become considered a generic term and thus unprotect-able. Microsoft has been leading the fight to have Apple's trademark application denied, arguing that the term is too generic in the first place to receive trademark protection.

Top Rated Comments

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sined13

41 months ago

Apple's arrogance has no boundaries.

Rating: 25 Votes

chrono1081

41 months ago

Sorry Apple, I can't back you on this one and I don't think others will either.

Rating: 22 Votes

wordoflife

41 months ago

Inferior Appstore? That's pushing it, Apple. Wow.

And no one cares what you call your Appstore/Marketplace/download center. We just care about the applications.

Rating: 16 Votes

MacEdit

41 months ago

its funny because even though "app store" can be a generic term, it wasn't until apple created their's that other's wanted to use it.
Apple beat them to the punch and the other companies want to capitalize on a phrase and term that the iPhone and Apple pretty much created.
It wasn't until the marketers of other phones started to use the term apps to help sell their devices against apple's that this became an issue. Whether you support Apple or not, you can not deny they did it first and others are just trying to catch up.

Rating: 13 Votes

BJ.SoundWave360

41 months ago

If Amazon would put some investment into some design people, it would REALLY help. That clunky pile of clutter is hard to look at. Apple should win this. I tried downloading an album from Amazon, to this day if I launch that downloader, it is STILL trying to get one of the songs from that album.

"It just works" is not what is going on there. Basically, they are Walmart on the internet. You go there to get something you've already chosen that you want cheap, then you get the heck out of there.

Rating: 12 Votes

kenliles

41 months ago

App Store was clearly a term associated with Apple's application store, first termed by them, marketed by them, and broadly accepted as referring to it's success. App Store does not associate with Amazon or any other store. IMO Apple is correct;

There is a clear reason Amazon named it such. In my view Amazon is the leach here...

Rating: 11 Votes

Maiden of Death

41 months ago

Well normally I have no problems with apple but in this case Apple can eat a dick. Amazon is still new right? what give apple the right to call new products that aren't made by them "Inferior". Are they trying to make everything closed?
Even though I prefer my iPhone to the modern day Android, Apple should seriously bug off projects that aren't made by them unless it directly copies them instead of suing the living crap off everything they don't agree with, Also FYI apple App stands for Application not Apple so chill the hell out.

Rating: 9 Votes

wirelessness

41 months ago

How stupid does Apple think its consumers are? Do they really think anyone is stupid enough to confuse the Apple App Store with the Android App Store and then somehow blame Apple for this....?

'Oh, Apple sucks!!! This Amazon App Store is total garbage it's offering me an Adobe Flash Plug-in, why in the world would I want something like that?'

Rating: 9 Votes

Mr Fusion

41 months ago

... So Apple's worried about the tarnishing of their "tightly regulated" reputation?

...

;)

Rating: 9 Votes

magnon

41 months ago

You have to know that the Zune Marketplace is airtight and beautiful to work with.

What's a Zune?

Rating: 7 Votes

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