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Judge Denies Apple Injunction Against Amazon's Appstore

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Apr 12, 2001
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A federal judge has denied Apple's preliminary injunction demanding Amazon stop using the term "appstore" for its Android marketplace. Apple sued Amazon back in March and asked U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton to immediately order Amazon to cease using the term. Apple believes the term is trademark protected.

Several weeks ago, the judge in the case expressed her skepticism regarding Apple's argument that "App Store" should be a non-generic trademark and today ruled that Apple has not thus far established "a likelihood of confusion" between Apple and Amazon's app stores.

A preliminary injunction is an order by the court to restrain a particular activity, usually ordered if the judge believes there is substantial likelihood of success on the merits of the case, or if there is a substantial threat of irreparable damage if the injunction is not granted, among other reasons

Apple believes use of the term by other companies can "confuse and mislead customers." Apple has numerous cease and desist letters to companies using the term, including the owner of pcappstore.com, and open source startup Amahi.

Judge Hamilton set October 2012 as a trial date.

Article Link: Judge Denies Apple Injunction Against Amazon's Appstore
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/06/judge-denies-apple-injunction-against-amazons-appstore/
good. No one will get "confused" because Amazon has an App Store. I think its a generic name. Windows, Safari, Mac, Apple, Macintosh, all existed before Apple and Microsoft. A safari is a type of vacation tour thing. Windows.... well my home was built before Microsoft, and it had Windows.. you know those clear panes of glass. Apple... That goes all the way back to the Bible. Eve ate one. :p. Macintosh.... well thats a KIND of Apple. Think of a specie of Apple.

Hell I don't get confused between the fruit and company.
 
Silly Apple, they should know better. Its like if a gas company sued another gas company cause they where using the word "gas" to sell their oil.
 
How long until we're told that:
Amazon, Word, Office, Windows, 1-click et;al are all generic again?

I love these appstore threads! :D
 
As much as well all love Apple, they're being the bullies in the sandbox here. They requested the owner of "pcappstore.com" to turn over the site to them? Honestly, that's just ridiculous.
 
Glad Apple didn't win that... 'App Store' is pretty generic and sounds more like a descriptive term than a branding.
 
ahdickter said:
As much as well all love Apple, they're being the bullies in the sandbox here. They requested the owner of "pcappstore.com" to turn over the site to them? Honestly, that's just ridiculous.
Click to expand...

True... Apple always hates PCs. Oh, wait. a PC is Personal Computer. My MacBook is a computer, its mine, and its personal, so its a PC. But I bet Apple thinks I'm now confused about this.

But pcappstore. Well if they (Apple) hate PCs so much, they should suck it up, and buy/use the domain macappstore or something.
 
ouimetnick said:
good. No one will get "confused" because Amazon has an App Store. I think its a generic name. Windows, Safari, Mac, Apple, Macintosh, all existed before Apple and Microsoft.
Click to expand...
Well, sort of. The issue arises because if a company doesn't defend its trademarks, they automatically are termed "generic" and they lose them.

If Apple wants to keep its trademarks, it MUST attempt to defend them. Doesn't mean they're right, but its unsurprising that Apple is pursuing the issue.

Rychy said:
Glad Apple didn't win that... 'App Store' is pretty generic and sounds more like a descriptive term than a branding.
Click to expand...
They didn't lose the trial, just a motion asking for a preliminary injunction.

The trial is scheduled for next year.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RTFO. I love Apple, but their legal services and lame lawsuits are ridiculous. I'm not confused between app stores. I won't buy from Apple's online store, but I might consider using Amazon's.
 
jlgolson said:
They didn't lose the trial, just a motion asking for a preliminary injunction.

The trial is scheduled for next year.
Click to expand...

There's a more important injunction for Apple to focus on anyway.

Sofabutt said:
RTFO. I love Apple, but their legal services and lame lawsuits are ridiculous.
Click to expand...

They're actually the most effective in the industry if you know your tech history.

rick98761 said:
I wish apple would use this money for development instead of this stupid lawsuit.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure they have more than enough to cover every aspect of their business. This is peanuts.
 
jlgolson said:
They didn't lose the trial, just a motion asking for a preliminary injunction.

The trial is scheduled for next year.
Click to expand...

October 2012 hey that coincides with the release of iPhone 6 and DandyLion
the mid-release for LION. But can you explain the Amazon AppStore to me again. Do they sell apps for the iPhone? Or do they sell iPhone apps to the Android users. This sure is confusing. I wish they had chosen another name. Like maybe Android R Us. Anybody could understand that.
 
*LTD* said:
There's a more important injunction for Apple to focus on anyway.



They're actually the most effective in the industry if you know your tech history.



I'm pretty sure they have more than enough to cover every aspect of their business. This is peanuts.
Click to expand...

You think I give as if they are effective? I said "I love Apple, but their legal services and lame lawsuits are ridiculous."
 
I love Apple but I'm glad they didn't win this silly lawsuit. There is only one companies App store I visit anyway and its right in my dock or in my iTunes.
 
RobertMartens said:
October 2012 hey that coincides with the release of iPhone 6 and DandyLion
the mid-release for LION. But can you explain the Amazon AppStore to me again. Do they sell apps for the iPhone? Or do they sell iPhone apps to the Android users. This sure is confusing. I wish they had chosen another name. Like maybe Android R Us. Anybody could understand that.
Click to expand...

With your logic, its confusing if Apple only uses the name App Store. I'm now confused.:rolleyes: Does Apple sell Apps for Windows, Android, or what? :confused:
;)
 
History

Is there no documentation of the usage of this word.

Did Apple first use it? Is Amazon admitting that Apple coined the phase but don't own it? Who used it first?

I don't mean that Apple should control the term but has it been established who first used the term.

Come on, we only need to look back 5 years to get this information. How hard could it be.
 
Sorry folks, but Apple is 100% in the right on this one, and if the justice system works, then they will ultimately win this trial.

NOBODY in the ENTIRE TECH WORLD ever used the term "app" or "app store" until Apple coined these phrase, and Apple trademarked it as well! All these other wannabe companies, like Amazon, are all trying to hitch a free ride on Apple's coattails, when Apple did all the hard work of blazing this trail for them and trademarking this term for themselves!

If you don't believe that Apple can trademark "App Store" and keep it for their own use (and they sure as hell should be able to do both), then how in the world can Microsoft get away with trademarking the COMPLETELY GENERIC TERM "Windows"? The term "windows" was used constantly by every human, every single day, in both technology and out of technology.

It would be INSANE for Microsoft to be able to have "Windows" to themselves, if Apple can't have the totally-justified "App Store" all to themselves.

it would be like someone trying to come out with their own "iTunes Store". It's totally ridiculous, and Apple will ultimately win this trial.
 
Come on who did not see this one coming. If anything if Apple keeps pushing it I feel Amazon should have every right to demand all their legal cost for this mess refunded to them.

This is yet another blow to add to the list that hurts Apple's case.
Next up the Trademark for App store will be denied like it should be.
 
ouimetnick said:
True... Apple always hates PCs. Oh, wait. a PC is Personal Computer. My MacBook is a computer, its mine, and its personal, so its a PC. But I bet Apple thinks I'm now confused about this.

But pcappstore. Well if they (Apple) hate PCs so much, they should suck it up, and buy/use the domain macappstore or something.
Click to expand...

sir, i took the time to log in for the first time in weeks just to down rank this.
 
scotty321 said:
NOBODY in the ENTIRE TECH WORLD ever used the term "app" or "app store" until Apple coined these phrase, and Apple trademarked it as well!
Click to expand...

We are going to need a citation please.

Your post started off strong but I'm afraid the Windows rant made you come off a bit psychotic. Just trying give you some friendly advice.:)
 
jlgolson said:
Well, sort of. The issue arises because if a company doesn't defend its trademarks, they automatically are termed "generic" and they lose them.

If Apple wants to keep its trademarks, it MUST attempt to defend them. Doesn't mean they're right, but its unsurprising that Apple is pursuing the issue.
Click to expand...

That implies Apple had the trademark to begin with. At this point Apple has only a pending application. I doubt they could succeed at trial without that vital trademark.

Rocketman said:
That is not reasonable for a time sensitive case such as this. Just-us.

Rocketman
Click to expand...

I'm sure that a lot of discovery needs to happen from now until trial. Both Amazon and Apple will drag their feet with discovery and it will take a while to sift through thousands of documents.

Besides, it isn't really time sensitive because there is no current trademark out there that is being violated. Why don't we wait until there is one before we worry about how soon we can have a trial?
 
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