It’s all over the internet. Apple is suing Amazon for using the term “App Store.” While petty arguments and lawsuits in the smartphone world are pretty common (in fact, keeping track of all of them would be impossible), this one has the public’s attention because Apple isn’t just suing Amazon. Apple is essentially setting the precedent to sue A LOT of people. So many companies use the term “app store” or some close resemblance to it. If Apple wins here, you can expect those companies to change those names immediately. However, that isn’t likely to happen. Here’s why:
The government is very picky about what you’re allowed to trademark. They don’t want you to trademark something that is considered “descriptive” or “generic.” A famous legal example is trying to get the trademark for calling your product or company “Blue Jeans.” You would not be granted a trademark because Jeans is a generic term, and Blue is a descriptive term. Now, Levi’s can advertise “Levi’s Blue Jeans” (which is trademarked) because it’s not generic. They’re using a trademarked name (Levi’s) to describe something. That’s acceptable. Keep that in mind.
Another thing people point out in this case that Apple technically has the trademark for the term “App Store.” What people fail to realize is that this has become a court case about whether or not they should be allowed to keep that trademark. If the government decides that a word has become too “generic” they will remove the trademark. Basically, if a word is used so often that people start associating the word with a type of product rather than a company the government will remove the trademark. Some famous examples include Escalator, yo-yo, trampoline, aspirin, and heroin (for a bigger list, click here). Essentially, if Amazon can prove that “app store” is associated more with buying applications than with Apple’s App Store they will get Apple’s trademark removed.
Some interesting background: It took several attempts to for Apple to convince the Trademark Licensing Office to give them trademark. In fact, they bought the name from a company that was previously unable to get it trademarked. The TLO decided that “App” was short for application (Apple can’t claim the word “store” because it’s descriptive) and only after several appeals did they decide to give the trademark to Apple.
So what’s all of this mean? Apple doesn’t have much of a case. The only two arguments Apple is bringing to table are 1) That they have the Trademark 2) People associate App Store with Apple more than they associate it with the a store where you buy applications. The first 1 is null considering this is a case that about whether that trademark is valid or not. For those of you claiming “Well, they still have the trademark,” you’re going to have to come up with a different reason. You can’t argue “because it’s 5″ in an argument about 2+2, similarly you can’t argue that you have a trademark in a case where that trademark’s status is being questioned. I agree Apple made it popular, but that doesn’t matter. So it all comes down to the second one. Because “store” is descriptive and generic, Apple has to argue that the word “App” should be allowed to be trademarked by Apple. I don’t see Apple being able to prove that. First of all, Steve Jobs himself has referred to other app stores as just that: App Stores. Amazon brought to light this quote from Mr. Jobs himself:
“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.”
The head of Apple has referred to other app stores as app stores. Not a good start for a company that wants to prove that “App” is associated with their company, and not with the word Application. Second, typing in the word “App” in about 10 different online dictionaries gave me a good sign that Amazon has a pretty decent case. Not once did any of the definitions have ANYTHING to do with Apple. Every single one of them basically said it was short for the word application. The American Dialect Society even voted the word App as the word of the year for the tech world. Claiming an increase in developing applications for different operating systems. While they cited Apple’s iOS a big reason for this, they made sure to emphasize the idea that an app is general term for an application.
Knowing that Apple has to claim the word “App” to win this case, how do you think this case will play out? Let us know below in the comments!