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Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#61

Post by andrewf »

mcav wrote: post #47
recoiledsnake wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Thus, for Microsoft, "Windows" eventually acquired secondary meaning in the world of computer software (but not as applied to window installation in the building industry). Others can freely use "windows" in most any category of goods or services they want in the building trades but, given that the term "Windows" is now exclusively associated with a product from Microsoft in that class, not in the class of computer…

Though they forced wxWindows to rename to wxWidgets.

Some money changed hands too. http://wxwidgets.org/about/name.htm

No doubt there was both a carrot and a stick, but who knows whether the stick would have held up in court. Trademark law could also well be different in the UK.

Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#62

Post by tomkarlo »

brown9-2 wrote: post #43
staunch wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has successfully promoted the heck out of name "App Store" and spent a fortune doing so. If that's the criteria they have a solid case.

You are overlooking the second part of this: such that the public comes to identify the relevant term with one vendor and not as a primarily descriptive term, then that item is said to acquire "secondary meaning. It is not clear that the public identifies "app" as something from Apple only.

The "there's an App for that" campaign by Apple has definitely helped cement that as a possibility. I'm pretty sure when folks use / mimic / parody that phrase, they're always referring to Apple's use, not some generic "app".

Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#63

Post by beza1e1 »

grellas wrote: post #8

Apple is here making an ultra-aggressive attempt at a land grab in the world of application software. The mark granted to it is for "App Store". Under relevant trademark law, a mark cannot be registered if it consists solely of a generic or purely descriptive term. "Store" is generic. So too is the word "application" - which is commonly thought of as being what the word "app" refers to. Therefore, no trademark could…

Judging from the word usage of my not-so-techie friends, an "app" is a "program on a smartphone". A "program on the desktop/laptop" is just a "program", not an "app". When someone says "i have an app, which does X", she surely is talking about her mobile.

Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#64

Post by Yaggo »

Common words or not, nobody was using the term 'App Store' before Apple made it popular (after popularizing smartphone apps). Suddenly everyone wants to have their own App Stores (after making their own iPhone clones). Please, let Apple have its App Store and come up with something original. Cannot be so hard.

Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#66

Post by Someone »

grellas wrote: post #8

Apple is here making an ultra-aggressive attempt at a land grab in the world of application software. The mark granted to it is for "App Store". Under relevant trademark law, a mark cannot be registered if it consists solely of a generic or purely descriptive term. "Store" is generic. So too is the word "application" - which is commonly thought of as being what the word "app" refers to. Therefore, no trademark could…

a mark cannot be registered if it consists solely of a generic or purely descriptive term. "Store" is generic.

Yes, it is, but as far as I can read from the Bloomberg article, the question at hand is about the combination of "App" with "Store" (if 'App' were the claim, they would have to go after Google, too). I haven't read Apple's claim, but I am fairly sure that Apple will argue that "App Store" is not solely a purely descriptive term. Also, there are many trademarks on more generic terms. For example, "Jaguar" is a trademark of Linotype (http://www.linotype.com/3228/jaguar.html)

If it should be granted what it seeks, how will other vendors be able to refer even generically to what they are offering?

"a place where you can buy software", or even "a place to buy apps" (if, as I assume, they are granting that 'apps' has become or always has been generic)

Counter-argument: if someone invents a new category of item and spends money to establish a name for it, why should everybody be allowed to go along with the ride? Should an inventor immediately come up with two terms, even before knowing that others want to copy them? [Two not-so-good-examples of this I can think of are Royal Mail and KLM. Both have almost generic names (KLM = Royal Air Line Company), British stamps do not even have a country designation on them.]

I do think Apple may be too late to claim the term is specific for their store, but I think it will be a close call.

Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#67

Post by beaumartinez »

OneWhoFrogs wrote: post #49
reemrevnivek wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Source?

"In addition to Google's own app marketplace, Amazon, Verizon, and Vodafone have all announced that they are creating their own app stores for Android -- so there will be at least four app stores on Android, which customers must search among to find the app they want," http://www.pcworld.com/article/222464/amazons_android_app_st...

Isn't this akin to saying "EA is creating its own Call Of Duty"? Jobs wasn't using the term in a generic fashion ("app stores"), rather using it as a comparative ("equivalents to the App Store").

Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#68

Post by ZeroGravitas »

beaumartinez wrote: post #67
OneWhoFrogs wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"In addition to Google's own app marketplace, Amazon, Verizon, and Vodafone have all announced that they are creating their own app stores for Android -- so there will be at least four app stores on Android, which customers must search among to find the app they want," http://www.pcworld.com/article/222464/amazons_android_app_st...

Isn't this akin to saying "EA is creating its own Call Of Duty"? Jobs wasn't using the term in a generic fashion ("app stores"), rather using it as a comparative ("equivalents to the App Store").

And when he said "find the app they want" he meant "find the generic, non-Apple equivalent of an iOS app whatever that might be called on their platform"?

Re: Apple Sues Amazon.com, Seeks Order to Stop Use of 'App Store'

#69

Post by ZeroGravitas »

Cococabasa wrote: post #25
Jabbles wrote: post #3

Could there be hope in arguing that "app store" is now a generic term for an online software shop?

Apple did the "App Store". It reminds me of the Crayon story. Seems simple: wax drawing tool. But wooo! Crayola had to give up the name. Personally, it's a tough call. They are all Crayons, they are all App Stores. Not sure what the solution is.

Wikipedia claims the word Crayon goes back to the 1600s, and has photos of boxes with the word "crayon" from 20 years before the company that became "Crayola" existed.

So what name did they have to give up?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayon

Better examples from Wikipedia are:

Aspirin, originally a trademark of Bayer AG

Butterscotch, originally a trademark of Parkinson's

Escalator, originally a trademark of Otis Elevator Company[4][5][6]

Heroin, originally a trademark of Bayer AG

Kerosene, originally a trademark of Abraham Gesner

Phillips-head screw, named after Henry F. Phillips

Pogo for the toy Pogo stick[6][7]

Sellotape, a brandname of The Sellotape Company

Thermos, originally a trademark of Thermos GmbH

Tipp-Ex, originally a trademark of German manufacturers Tipp-Ex GmbH & Co. KG

Yo-yo, originally a trademark of Duncan Yo-Yo Company

Zipper, originally a trademark of B.F. Goodrich[6][8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark

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