Microsoft Disputes Apple’s “App Store” Trademark.
Have you ever wondered why every company — Google, RIM, Palm — that launched a mobile application store chose a different name for it? One reason is that Apple attempted to trademark the term “App Store,” but now Microsoft is fighting to use the same term for its own mobile app store.
Microsoft claims the term “app store” is completely generic and should be free to use by anyone. As Microsoft’s recent motion for summary judgement states, “Any secondary meaning or fame Apple has in ‘App Store’ is de facto secondary meaning that cannot convert the generic term ‘app store’ into a protectable trademark.”
Microsoft further claims that the media has been using the term “app store” in relation to app stores (here at Mashable, we have indeed done that on many occasions) for other mobile platforms — not just Apple’s iOS.
Apple, of course, disagrees. “The vastly predominant usage of the expression ‘app store’ in trade press is as a reference to Apple’s extraordinarily well-known APP STORE mark and the services rendered by Apple thereunder,” claims Apple in a response to an earlier Microsoft filing.
The dispute is now a battle between Apple and Microsoft’s lawyers, and it could probably go either way. What do you think? Does Apple deserve a trademark for “app store,” or should the term be free for other companies to use?
Win the FREE iPhone Giveaway! 