No, the trademark holder doesn't lose the trademark. They only lose the trademark if they don't actively protect it.
your own article said:
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Microsoft Objects to Apple's 'App Store' Trademark Application
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No, the trademark holder doesn't lose the trademark. They only lose the trademark if they don't actively protect it.
So you are disagreeing that an application is not a computer software designed to help the user to perform singular or multiple related specific tasks or are you just trying to argue for the sake of arguing?
This.
Apple "programs" have always been called Applications and the extensions for said "programs" is ".app". Case closed.
I was in a start-up last year 2 years ago and recall all the headaches that the top guys were going through on dealing with pre-existing patents on names and etc. for our specific online software program.
I'll side with Apple on this one as they generated the buzz, put in the marketing dollar, and made the name synonymous with Apple related services.
But I can see the evil side of name patents from a small company perspective and the big guys always win.
I'll side with Apple on this one as they generated the buzz, put in the marketing dollar, and made the name synonymous with Apple related services.
But I can see the evil side of name patents from a small company perspective and the big guys always win.
Proper belly laugh at this thread. Hardly any of you have a clue what you are talking about.
This thread has kept me amused for the last hour! Carry on posting nonsense, it's getting me through the day...
This thread has kept me amused for the last hour! Carry on posting nonsense, it's getting me through the day...
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This reminds me of an episode of "Beauty and the Geek" where the girls knew that the word "booty" in many situations meant "butt" while the geeks didn't know that and all thought that "booty" was pirate treasure. Kinda funny.
I think this came about largely because Apple was the first popularize the shorthand "app" for "application". I actually remember disliking it because to me the word "app" seemed like such a sloppy shorthand.
I see from previous posts that other places called them "apps" before Apple did but it never reached the general public consciousness.
But now that everyone calls them "apps", the term really has become generic.
I see from previous posts that other places called them "apps" before Apple did but it never reached the general public consciousness.
But now that everyone calls them "apps", the term really has become generic.
I just messed around with the Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/) and the mobile application site PocketGear.com was referring to their "Top 10 Apps" and "Top 10 Free Apps" as early as 2001.
Unfortunately the Wayback Machine is kind of slow today. So searching around there is difficult. But there were definitely "Apps" in the non-Apple mobile world at least a decade ago.
I'd also add that that since I was working in the mobile app development arena 10 years ago, I'm pretty confident plenty of online mobile app stores were out there at that time - and many of them used the term "App".
It's officially "Apple Computers" or now "Apple Incorporated" and "Microsoft Windows".
Apple could trademark the "Apple App Store" or "Mac App Store" but "App Store" is too generic in the public domain.
I wish we could get onto some real news... like... Win7 Mobile phones burning up data bandwidth while doing nothing (up to 50mb a day) or iPad 2.0 or new Macbook rumors. This topic is lame.
Really?
Last time I checked, this was a trademark application for the words "App Store", not a file type extension or program designation.
And the term "Application" is generic in nature and has many meanings.
It could be a computer program, a form you fill out or the process of applying paint to a wall.
Your argument that the word "App" is synonymous with Apple is flawed.
Apple starts the App Store first, then Apple CHOOSES WHAT IT WANTS TO TRADEMARK. /discussion
First one there wins.
Next thread.
First one there wins.
Next thread.
Uhh, as far as I understood it the (R) means that its a Registered Trademark, meaning registered and recognized with a federal office. Whereas the "TM" is used when a trademark application is currently in process or simply unregistered. In either case both the (R) and the TM are Trademarks.
Infact, "Microsoft" is also a (R)egistered trademark and carries the, (R).
Also, if you look at the logo for Windows 2000, you'll see the (R). This was well before the Lindows case.
http://media.gdgt.com/img/product/15/bqk/microsoft-windows-2000-oas-460.jpg
Looking through the US Trademark registery, it looks like Windows was registered in the mid 90's.. So if you look at a Windows 3.1 logo from 1992, it has the "TM" before it was (R)egistered.
http://onhax.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/win_three_point_one_onhax.gif
In terms of Microsoft vs Lindows, I can't find anything that says that Microsoft actually lost their trademark on Windows. However, I did find the settlement press release dated a few months after your reference.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/jul04/07-19lindowspr.mspx
Now, if Microsoft did lose their trademark, someone might want to tell them, because they clearly call "Windows" a trademark in multiple locations. Here's one...
Do Not Use Microsoft Trademarks as Part of Your Product Name
Microsoft trademarks may not be incorporated as part of the name of another company's product or service. You may not include "Windows," "Windows Media," or any potentially confusing variation in the name of your product or service. This same rule applies to other Microsoft trademarks, such as Microsoft, which should never be included in your product name or company name.
http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/en/us/IntellectualProperty/Trademarks/Usage/WindowsMedia.aspx
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THE WORD
"App" has been used for decades as short for application.
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in January 2007, he always used the word "application" when talking about anything on it, because it was important for people to understand what he was talking about. (He used the slang word "app" only when talking about Mac software.)
APP STORES
Handheld app stores have been around since the 1990s. The PalmGear application store was one. In 1999, Handango started, and for years was one of (if not THE) largest online handheld application stores in the world. Some carriers even included a Handango store app on their phones.
A magazine article from 2004 about Handango stated:
"Handango also stocks more than 25,000 Palm apps and more than 20,000 apps for devices based on Windows Mobile, Microsoft's latest moniker for the OS formerly known as Pocket PC."
I would agree that many casual users today might associate the phrase "App Store" with the Apple one... especially if they own an iPhone. However, that's all just recent history and very Apple user centric.
If you asked a friend ten years ago what "app store" they bought their WinMo programs from, they'd have known what you meant... and thought of Handango or a half dozen other online places instead.
All that said, I have no legal idea if Apple should be able to trademark "App Store" or not.
"App" has been used for decades as short for application.
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in January 2007, he always used the word "application" when talking about anything on it, because it was important for people to understand what he was talking about. (He used the slang word "app" only when talking about Mac software.)
APP STORES
Handheld app stores have been around since the 1990s. The PalmGear application store was one. In 1999, Handango started, and for years was one of (if not THE) largest online handheld application stores in the world. Some carriers even included a Handango store app on their phones.
A magazine article from 2004 about Handango stated:
"Handango also stocks more than 25,000 Palm apps and more than 20,000 apps for devices based on Windows Mobile, Microsoft's latest moniker for the OS formerly known as Pocket PC."
I would agree that many casual users today might associate the phrase "App Store" with the Apple one... especially if they own an iPhone. However, that's all just recent history and very Apple user centric.
If you asked a friend ten years ago what "app store" they bought their WinMo programs from, they'd have known what you meant... and thought of Handango or a half dozen other online places instead.
All that said, I have no legal idea if Apple should be able to trademark "App Store" or not.
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No. I don't think they do. It wasn't generic until Apple made it so in the public's mind. That's your (and Microsoft's) problem here. Apple "owns" the combination of App and Store. It was NEVER used commercially prior to Apple using it commercially. And, unless some one can demonstrate otherwise (and so far no one here has), there was no common usage of "app store" prior to Apple's use. You just saying that's a phrase you've used before doesn't mean anything. If anything, most people used the word program, but even if we dispute that, they would have talked about buying an app, installing an app, etc., but never used app store prior to Apple's use.
You can be sure MS lawyers are trying their best to locate those two words in some close proximity in some obscure manner used to sell computer software.
What are you talking about? In this sense App means the same thing, its short for Application. Its not like someone is confusing Cup as in drinking cup and Cup as in measurement.
Actually, not quite true. A trademark can be lost to genericide regardless of whether the trademark holder to active steps to try and protect it.
Shouldn't that read "Hardly any of you HAVE a clue what you are talking about."
Heiniken Schmeiniken.
I'm with the lovable losers on this one. The Appholes over at Apple are out of control these days. They would trademark the air we breath if they could. Then call it iAir (a magical, and revolutionary form of oxygen) and overcharge for it. I cannot wait until the run Apple is on ends. I used to love this company, but now I hate almost everything about them.
I'ma let you finish, but to launch an App in Windows 7, I press START and then navigate to ALL PROGRAMS.
Not that I care for the topic in this thread one bit. Your post just stood out as plain ignorant.
You can't patent a name.
"App" is just short for "Application" and has been used as such for a lot longer than Apple had "apps".
"Killer app" anyone?
Actually, it was. Window was the term of art used to describe those things we see on our screen, and call 'windows' long before Windows(r) came into existence. (See also, the X Window System.) (Do some digging into the information that came to light over the Lindows trademark suit, and you'll find out just how generic a term 'windows' was in the computer industry before Microsoft trademarked it.
Access is fine because, while being a generic term, isn't a generically descriptive term for database software. Ironically, SQL Server (the name of their real database product) is, which is why you'll always see them calling it 'Microsoft SQL Server' or 'MS SQL Server'.
That said, 'app' has been a short-hand way of saying 'application' for longer than I can remember, and the 'App Store' is nothing more than a store (online) that sells apps. It's purely a descriptive name, which weakens its position as a potential trademark for exactly the reasons Microsoft outlines.
So what that doesn't negate the fact that they are also referred to as Apps. Apple didn't invent this word! As others have point out Handango had an App store when Steve was building Blueberry iMacs, Citrix has been Actualizing APPS for as long as I can remember, and when I was in College we built COBOL Apps.