Incorrect.
(TM) means an application to register the mark has been filed and is pending.
(R) means the trademark has been approved and is registered with the USPTO.
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Microsoft Objects to Apple's 'App Store' Trademark Application
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(TM) means an application to register the mark has been filed and is pending.
(R) means the trademark has been approved and is registered with the USPTO.
Just because it didn't enter your mind doesn't mean it wasn't in sectors of public consciousness; Apple popularized a lot of gadgets for a lot of people; still, those who knew about the gadgets knew about the lingo. Just because you didn't know it then doesn't mean it belongs to Apple, just that YOUR association is because of Apple.
Microsoft has a good point here. Its like me trademarking the name "House" and then suing everyone who calls their house a house because it has a similar operation as mine. Maybe for some reason I popularize the name. Or better yet, casa. No one but me and a few million others (about 500 or so) would call a house a casa. Now I want to trademark the term. No.
Just because it is a company you like being put on defense and one you hate put on offense is no grounds to ignore morality and fair use of the law.
The point here is that "App Store" is generic, which means you're using a generic term to describe a specific place and refuse to use a specific term because apparently it's confusing.
It's as if I would like Apple to trademark the word "computer" because I advertise things as "available for computers" and don't want to have to say "available for Mac computers" because my consumers don't know what Mac is.
Or, a more "physical" example: if the supermarket on my street sells the home made chocolate bars I make, I can't just say to my friends "you can find my chocolate in the supermarket" because they don't know what the "foobar supermarket" is and then say that Foobar Supermarket should trademark "supermarket" because of that.
If "iOS" and "iPhone" confuse your consumers, Apple should come up with a specific name for that specific store, like "iApp Store" (would fit in with iTunes Store) or "App-le Store" or what have you.
Better things than making money???
Actually, NO. It is any corporation's fiduciary duty to stockholders to MAXIMIZE profit. That's their reason for existing! So, no, they don't have anything better to do than pursue every possible avenue or maintaining/expanding their dominance in their market
btw, hope they win. "App Store" didn't exist until Apple invented it.
Actually, NO. It is any corporation's fiduciary duty to stockholders to MAXIMIZE profit. That's their reason for existing! So, no, they don't have anything better to do than pursue every possible avenue or maintaining/expanding their dominance in their market
btw, hope they win. "App Store" didn't exist until Apple invented it.
Really?
Did you even read what I typed?
Where did I mention the Start menu?
Open Explorer... look for an .EXE... what is the file "TYPE" called?
I rest my case.
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You are missing the point. When did "App Store" start?
Sony didn't invent the words "Walk" or "Man" or imply that only they invented the concept of walking men when they trademarked their (then wildly popular) WalkMan portable cassette players. (Yeah, I'm showing my age...)
The term has become popular, this is about the company that popularized the term trying to capitalize on it. They are trying to make Microsoft, RIM, Google, etc. come up with their own terms for their own mobile application stores vs. leveraging the term that Apple used to create a worldwide buzz.
Likewise, making a term famous enough that everyone starts using it as short hand for everything similar to it isn't normally grounds for *losing* a trademark. See Kleenex and Coke for examples. (There are entire swathes of the US where when asked "What sort of coke do you want?" you'd be considered perfectly normal to ask if they serve Pepsi products, because 'coke' means the same thing in those areas as 'soda', 'pop', or 'soda-pop' do in other regions.)
My Clie + Magic Stick + MP3's = the iPod before the iPod.
Again not true. Calling Soda Coke is a regional thing. It depends on where you go. Some people call it Coke, some Soda, some Pop.
sue me sue you blues
No the lawyers win. They will bitch about this forever at 1000's per billable hour.
No the lawyers win. They will bitch about this forever at 1000's per billable hour.
Actually, NO. It is any corporation's fiduciary duty to stockholders to MAXIMIZE profit. That's their reason for existing! So, no, they don't have anything better to do than pursue every possible avenue or maintaining/expanding their dominance in their market
btw, hope they win. "App Store" didn't exist until Apple invented it.
But App STORES *did* exist. For a long time. This is merely a MARKETING term. And it's too generic.
lol you obviously didn't bother to read the whole article and decided to try to find some quote to help you drink your apple kool-aid. Try reading the entire article on how you would have to protect it. For example stress an alterantive name for the type of store which would be hard since it is basically an "app store" Please go back and actually read the article on how other people protected the trademark such as Band-aid.
What further hurts apple is when Steve Jobs himself refers to other company's stores as "app stores"
To everyone who keeps pointing out Microsoft has "Windows" and "Word" trademarked:
First, Microsoft doesn't have "Word" trademarked.
Second, "Windows" was not a term related to technology and computers until Microsoft invented windows. App (short for application) was used in the computer world before Apple started the App Store. Adding the very generic word "store" doesn't change anything. It's like trying to trademark "liqueur store" or "computer store" or "vegetable market".
First, Microsoft doesn't have "Word" trademarked.
Second, "Windows" was not a term related to technology and computers until Microsoft invented windows. App (short for application) was used in the computer world before Apple started the App Store. Adding the very generic word "store" doesn't change anything. It's like trying to trademark "liqueur store" or "computer store" or "vegetable market".
Come on you are really digging deep. If you really think about it WalkMan is brilliant because before you knew what it was if someone said whats a WalkMan you'd be like I have no idea. If someone asked you what an App Store was before Apple coined it you'd probably say a Place to Buy Apps. Thats the difference here.
I have one still sitting on my dresser. Not sure if it would even hold a charge now.
I actually agree with MS here, but I also found it highly ironic that they are trying to block someone else from doing something they would no doubt have done if:
1. they'd thought of it first
2. this was back in the day when they held everyone by the short and curlies
and squeezed hard
1. they'd thought of it first
2. this was back in the day when they held everyone by the short and curlies
and squeezed hard
Of course it's a marketing term! That's what trademarks are!
BTW, what were these app STORES called? Extra points if they capitalized the name like that.
Man that thing was slick. I was working at CompUSA at the time and those things where close to 600 bucks. I got one open box for like 100 dollars and used it until it literally fell apart.
Bottom line if Apple wants it is should be:
"Apple App Store"
Was it generic when Apple initially applied for the trademark?
They're called 'apps' because they're applications, as per the Mac OS X terminology that Apple carried over to the iPhone - Applications and .app.
Windows uses Programs, not apps.
So why are the other companies using "app store" - simply because Apple defined it.
This is such a misnomer! Windows has been using Applications since the dawn of Windows.
http://www.handango.com/app-store/Home.jsp
Been around since the late 90's.
None of which have become a household word or a popular name in an advertisement slogan. Did you forget why we are having this argument? This isn't about Apple complaining about Microsoft's use of generic names.
I'm new to owning an Apple product and I still don't really like everything being called "Apps"
I know the term refers to application, however I always mentally felt an Application was a Utility.
I've even made folders on my machine before to store programs and I've names the folders Applications to put all my software in that I call as a utility.
I've then made a games folder to put games in.
I accept it may just be me, but I find it hard to class a Games as an Application.
I know the term refers to application, however I always mentally felt an Application was a Utility.
I've even made folders on my machine before to store programs and I've names the folders Applications to put all my software in that I call as a utility.
I've then made a games folder to put games in.
I accept it may just be me, but I find it hard to class a Games as an Application.
and the data for those programs is stored in a folder called 'application data'.
your point is?
"WalkMan" is one word, a word that hasn't existed before sony created it (unless of course someone came up with a very boring superhero name). "App Store" is made up of two words, two generic words. You yourself say "their own application stores" and are referring to Apple's competitors.
Besides, Sony's WalkMan is a portable cassette player, Apples App Store is an app store. If someone asks what Sony's WalkMan is, you don't say it's a walkman because that word has no meaning, it's made up by Sony as a brand name. However, if someone asks what Apple's App Store is, you can say it's an app store, because that is what it is.