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Microsoft Objects to Apple's 'App Store' Trademark Application
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I'm sure that's true, but just as many in development use the word program.
In fact this appears to be a windoz vs mac thing.
If you ask most windoz users what an application is most don't know what you are talking about, not savy users, but the average user.
They use the fact that Steve Jobs used the word app as generic, well he makes computers that have the program folder named applications.
Please note that this was Steve Jobs not Balmer that said this.
How many lawsuits have Apple won against MS for patent infringement?
MS is late to the party once again.
App comes from the word Application which only apple uses on it's computers and phones. Everyone else may want to use it as well, but Apple used it first.
Game set and match!
It doesn't matter if the term was used before 2008. It matters if the general public uses the term (app store) to refer to that type of store such that granting Apple a monopoly on the term would be unfair to competitors, or it matters if competitors used the term (app store) in a similar channel of commerce such that consumers would be confused.
Look up the definition of windows. The word application is used many times over.
For me. . . None.
As others have said here, some people may be confused if more 'app stores' pop up and they have heard a particular app is in the 'app store' but when they theck the windows app store it isn't there.
It looks like MS maybe justified but I can't imagine they will be opening anything called 'App Store' any time soon anyway. The term already has far too much Apple Brand association for that to be a good idea.
Competitors have already named their stores differently anyway, would they really backtrack on that to use the term App Store?
Yes, they did, while others used "programs".
And yes, it is grounds for getting a trademark.
No, many others used app before them.
And we'll see how this turns out later I guess. My money is on MS.
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Summary: a bunch o people don't understand trademark law and generic terms, but this is a Mac site so MS are wrong!!!!!1!!! Go apple woo!
Summary: a bunch o people don't understand trademark law and generic terms, but this is a Mac site so MS are wrong!!!!!1!!! Go apple woo!
It happens all the time
The trademarking of a generic term seems to be common practise.
For example, the company UGG stole the generic term for sheep skin boots from Australia.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation holds the UGG trademark in more than 100 countries worldwide though not in Australia and New Zealand as this is where the Ugg boot originated and used as a generic term.
Australian manufacturers lost the battle to call their boots Uggs internationally as this company has stolen the generic term from the Australian and New Zealand people.
It is disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated but that is the way the legal system goes.
You can read all about this on the Wiki page for Ugg boots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugg_boots
The trademarking of a generic term seems to be common practise.
For example, the company UGG stole the generic term for sheep skin boots from Australia.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation holds the UGG trademark in more than 100 countries worldwide though not in Australia and New Zealand as this is where the Ugg boot originated and used as a generic term.
Australian manufacturers lost the battle to call their boots Uggs internationally as this company has stolen the generic term from the Australian and New Zealand people.
It is disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated but that is the way the legal system goes.
You can read all about this on the Wiki page for Ugg boots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugg_boots
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The first problem is referencing a Wikipedia page that is flagged as missing citations:
Wikipedia said:
The second problem is that it doesn't say when that 'or an '"app"' language was added to that page. If it was after the "App Store" trademark application, it doesn't help your case. FWIW, what you quoted is the sole reference to "app" in that entire article.
When did GEM have an "App Store"?
This is BS to the extreme from Microsoft. Had Apple's App Store never been successful Microsoft wouldn't have said anything. They would've just said, "Oh go ahead and let Apple have the "App Store" name, their store hasn't been successful anyway". How funny that Microsoft is saying something now after the Mac App Store has opened and has had initial success. They probably want to use the "App Store" name now for their possibly forthcoming (but probably will never be sucessful) Windows 8 store. 
Guess we won't be seeing MS Office on the Mac App Store now.
Talk about hypocrite, no matter what office suite people are referring to everybody thinks only of Microsoft Office. Nobody is thinking of iWork, Neo Office or Open Office. And what about "WORD", they patented that. There are several word processors on the market but Microsoft has the patent on "WORD" and that's a very generic term for a word processor. This is some of the reason why I truly hate Microsoft. They hold a strong monopoly on the business world just on their patented names alone.
Guess we won't be seeing MS Office on the Mac App Store now.
Talk about hypocrite, no matter what office suite people are referring to everybody thinks only of Microsoft Office. Nobody is thinking of iWork, Neo Office or Open Office. And what about "WORD", they patented that. There are several word processors on the market but Microsoft has the patent on "WORD" and that's a very generic term for a word processor. This is some of the reason why I truly hate Microsoft. They hold a strong monopoly on the business world just on their patented names alone.
I just wanted to reiterate this exact point. When talking to my friends, you can easily tell which ones use Windows and which use Macs when talking about software. All of us Mac users talk about our apps and applications, it's only the mobile space that has been changing this. All of my Windows-using friends still refer to "programs" which seems very archaic to me.
Know Your Rights: Does T-Mobile really own magenta?
I'm the owner of a advertising agency. I have two I.P. Attorney's I work with. Large companies get away with everything. Then come after us smaller companies when we "infringe" on it. Starbucks goes after anyone with a couple stars in a green circle. TMobile mission to trademark Magenta. Pretty soon I'll have to pay someone everytime I type "THE"
http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/09/know-your-rights-does-t-mobile-really-own-magenta/
I'm the owner of a advertising agency. I have two I.P. Attorney's I work with. Large companies get away with everything. Then come after us smaller companies when we "infringe" on it. Starbucks goes after anyone with a couple stars in a green circle. TMobile mission to trademark Magenta. Pretty soon I'll have to pay someone everytime I type "THE"
http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/09/know-your-rights-does-t-mobile-really-own-magenta/
Yep... Microsoft should win this one ...
I'm fine with Apple trademarking their "A" logo that signifies the App Store on their devices ... but not the generic term itself.
If they wanted a unique name for that, they should have come up with something more original in the first place. Heck, even something like "iMarket" or "iAppVendor" would probably have been defensible.
I'm fine with Apple trademarking their "A" logo that signifies the App Store on their devices ... but not the generic term itself.
If they wanted a unique name for that, they should have come up with something more original in the first place. Heck, even something like "iMarket" or "iAppVendor" would probably have been defensible.
App Store is as commonplace as the word Kleenex, and Kleenex is still a registered trademark. But I do agree that the abbreviation "App" is pretty common these days (thanks to Apple!), so they might have a hard time holding on to App Store. Be interesting to see how it goes.
I see nothing wrong with trademarking, say, Windows as far as an OS is concerned. Everyone calls them windows, I believe in documents.
And calling a program word...again, I don't see the problem with it.
Apple's only case would be its named as a place to buy .app files. Application Store/App Store is a generic term. Now, saying a program named word is generic doesn't make sense. No one says a word processor is a "word" and similarly, if you say "word" it takes the name away from other things than word processing such as games. Microsoft might have trademarked a lot, but their products weren't as generically named in my opinion as App Store. Defending apple's monopoly here is fanboyism, plain and simple.
I like apple, I'm writing this on a macbook air while playing an app on my ipod. Nonetheless, just because I like Apple is no reason I have to hate Microsoft. Didn't Steve Jobs say this back when Microsoft saved Apple back in the day?
Apple should not be allowed to trademark App Store and in a landmark decision, the copywrong office goes back and removes the trademarks with similar use on M$ products e.g. Windows, Word, Access, etc.
M$ here is right - if you are of the mindset the copywrong office has gone too far and is allowing a bunch of crap to be trademark. Heck, in Boise, Idaho they trademarked a blue football field! I like my Boise State Broncos but think it is just another example of trademarking gone wrong. Same here with App Store, Windows, Word and all the rest.
EDIT - read some earlier posts saying that M$ may not have a trademark on the names Windows, etc just the graphics - that I get. If that is the case, makes an even stronger point not to trademark App Store.
M$ here is right - if you are of the mindset the copywrong office has gone too far and is allowing a bunch of crap to be trademark. Heck, in Boise, Idaho they trademarked a blue football field! I like my Boise State Broncos but think it is just another example of trademarking gone wrong. Same here with App Store, Windows, Word and all the rest.
EDIT - read some earlier posts saying that M$ may not have a trademark on the names Windows, etc just the graphics - that I get. If that is the case, makes an even stronger point not to trademark App Store.
Lipton cup a soup
Not that I agree with it, but Apple should win. They can reference plenty of recent examples, Lipton trademarking "cup a soup" to be the most prominent. And they did it the same way, apply, get rejected, wait for recognition, do market research, apply again with proof of name association, get trademark.
Not that I agree with it, but Apple should win. They can reference plenty of recent examples, Lipton trademarking "cup a soup" to be the most prominent. And they did it the same way, apply, get rejected, wait for recognition, do market research, apply again with proof of name association, get trademark.
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I'm not a troll, I like apple products and am posting from my iPhone, but some of you gambits make me laugh. Microsoft isn't positing that apple didn't come up with "app store," they are just saying that the term has become generic, and that the CEO of apple even uses the term generically. If you don't understand what that means look up Rollerblade
I'm not a troll, I like apple products and am posting from my iPhone, but some of you gambits make me laugh. Microsoft isn't positing that apple didn't come up with "app store," they are just saying that the term has become generic, and that the CEO of apple even uses the term generically. If you don't understand what that means look up Rollerblade
Cnet's www.download.com have been using 'mobile apps' and 'web apps' as catagories for a very long time.
Anyone who never heard the term app used before the app store have never worked in the IT industry. Just owning an iPhone does not make you a expert in these matters.
Anyone who never heard the term app used before the app store have never worked in the IT industry. Just owning an iPhone does not make you a expert in these matters.