Last month, we saw Apple sue Amazon for using the term "Appstore" to describe their newly-created marketplace for Android apps, which it believed infringed on the name of its own App Store for iOS apps. Today Amazon finally issued an official response to the suit, claiming that the term "app store" is too generic to be trademarked much like Microsoft did earlier this year. To drive its point home, Amazon points out different instances in which Steve Jobs himself has used the term "app store" in a generic way, like in this quote from last year in which the CEO was speaking on the topic of Android fragmentation:
“So there will be at least four app stores on Android, which customers must search among to find the app they want and developers will need to work with to distribute their apps and get paid. This is going to be a mess for both users and developers. Contrast this with Apple’s integrated App Store, which offers users the easiest-to-use largest app store in the world, preloaded on every iPhone.”
Amazon certainly makes a compelling argument, especially considering that they're using Jobs's own statements against him. Then again, Apple does have a trademark on the term "App Store," so things aren't exactly cut and dry in the case. Where do you stand in this legal battle? Do you think Amazon is infringing on Apple's trademark, or is the term "App Store" just too generic?
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