Apple responds to Amazon's claim that 'app store' is a generic term

Brace yourselves for more corporate banter. Apple has submitted a rebuttal to Amazon.com's most recent filing, denying Amazon's claim that 'app store' is a generic term. On March 21, Apple filed suit against Amazon, claiming that their 'Amazon Appstore for Android' infringed on Apple's trademarked property.

Apple concedes that there are generic elements to the name: "the current edition of the Oxford English Dictionary defines 'app' as, in part, '[a]n application, esp. an application program...Apple further admits that the current edition of the New Oxford American Dictionary defines 'store' as, in part, a retail establishment selling items to the public: a health-food store."

But Apple takes issue with the combination of 'app' and 'store', claiming that the 'appstore' term isn't used to describe mobile software storefronts. Nice try. It's the same kind of uphill battle Kleenex faces every time they try to argue that people don't generically refer to tissues as 'Kleenex'.

Surprisingly, Amazon might have the more complicated case to prove. They do have strong evidence, i.e. Steve Jobs using the term "app store" to describe all mobile download venues. But Amazon is also trying to trademark their own 'Amazon Appstore for Android' name. So how will they simultaneously claim that 'app store' is generic, and then apply for their own trademark? One step at a time.

source: Justia via L.A. Times