Apple case undermined by Steve Jobs, Tim Cook

A federal court in San Francisco has granted a requested dismissal of an Apple lawsuit over Amazon's use of the term "Appstore," Bloomberg reports. Apple has filed for a US trademark on the name "App Store," and in the court case it argued that Amazon's use of the term "Appstore" is intentionally confusing. Amazon countered, though, by saying that the term "app store" has become generic; with today's dismissal, the company should be able to continue selling Android apps unimpeded.

Apple's case was likely fatally undermined when Amazon pointed out that both Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and current CEO Tim Cook had used the term "app store" in public when referring to competing storefronts. That and the lawsuit dismissal could sabotage Apple's trademark application, especially since several high-tech companies, such as Microsoft, are actively seeking to block it.

Although Google is the biggest vendor of Android apps, Amazon does have a small share of the market. The company also has a curated app store exclusively for the Kindle Fire, with a reduced selection of titles.

by MacNN Staff