I can’t decide if this is funny or not… but it probably is. Apple sued Amazon a few months ago, claiming the the Amazon Appstore for Android infringed on Apple’s trademark for the term “App Store.” Part of Amazon’s defense is that the term is pretty generic, since it describes a store… that sells apps. But in a legal document filed yesterday, Apple claims otherwise.
Her’es the gist of it. Apple concedes that an “app” is an application and that a “store” is a retail establishment that sells stuff. But the company “denies that, based on their common meaning, the words ‘app store’ together denote a store for apps.”
That’s kind of like saying that drug store, grocery store, hardware store, and other commonly used terms weren’t obvious constructions.
Clearly Apple is taking steps to defend its trademark, so I guess I can’t blame them for using convoluted logic. But I’d put a bit more credence in the claims that the term isn’t widely used by other businesses — primarily because they’re scared of being sued by Apple.
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