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While the war of Apple patents vs. the world rages on, at least one
dispute is expected to reach its inevitable climax. A Federal court
judge has ordered that the two company’s end their long standing dispute
over Amazon’s original use of the term “Appstore.”
Amazon launched “Appstore” as its first selling place for Google Android
based software on tablet devices. Apple at the time claimed that it
owned the right to the App Store brand, a moniker that was already in
use by other software manufacturers long before Apple stole the term.
The federal court judge overseeing the lawsuit has ordered that Apple
and Amazon come to terms on a settlement before heading to trial in
August.
Apple has already been facing an uphill battle in the lawsuit. Last
year a judge said Apple’s claims that Amazon was attempting to confuse
customers with the Appstore name were unmerited. The judge found there
was “no evidence that a consumer who accesses the Amazon Appstore would expect that it would be identical to the Apple APP STORE.”
In the new settlement order issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth
Laporte, the two company’s must attend a settlement discussion on March
21 and they must bring executives who have permission to deal on behalf
of their respective tech firms.
While a settlement is not guaranteed it could be in Apple’s favor to
reach the cases inevitable conclusion given its already poor track
record in defending its case against Amazon.
At this time it is hard to determine who will emerge the victor,
however Amazon has most of the tech industry on its side as Apple
continues to file trademarks for rudimentary terms it never coined,
while aligning itself against the rest of the sector it operates within.
Do you think Apple deserves the trademark rights to the “App Store” term or is the company grasping at straws?
