back to article Steve Jobs backs Amazon from beyond grave in Apple trademark row

Amazon has asked a US court to lop off an allegation of false advertising from Apple's trademark lawsuit against the Amazon Appstore. Apple launched legal action last year alleging that the Amazon Appstore for Android is a trademark violation of Apple's App Store. On top of the trademark kerfuffle, Apple also claimed that …

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  1. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

    Apple Music anyone?

    I used to think that apples grew on trees until the Beatles snaffled them all. And sold them to Steve Jobs.

  2. cyke1
    FAIL

    Um, Appstore is pretty much as generic term as Kleenex is.

    1. DavCrav

      Not really

      Kleenex is not a generic term, it became generic.

      App store is generic in the same way that car park is generic: it is a store for apps, in the same way as it is a park for cars.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not really

        Quite. Sounds like John from "John's Sweet Shop" is reckoning people going into "Jemima's Sweet Shop" will be confused into thinking it's John's.

        Apple Appstore

        Amazon Appstore

        It's a store that sells apps. Stop being twats Apple.

        1. I think so I am?
          Thumb Up

          Re: Not really

          Got to keep the lawyers in their Bentley's and fancy health clubs

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not really

          Erm, Apple have used the term Application for ages, the file extension of Applications on OSX is .app.

          I don't remember the term "app" being quite so common in relation to mobiles before the iPhone. You would be more likely to say "cab" for Windows Mobile or "exe". Symbian used another term "sis".

          1. KnucklesTheDog
            WTF?

            @AC 19:40

            Except of course as you well knew before you posted that utter crap "app" is short for "application" and has nothing to do with file extensions whatsoever. Just because Apple use a word already in common usage doesn't mean everyone else has to stop and just because Apple do something doesn't mean you have to agree. Learn to think for yourself.

            (A quick google news search will show the term in use before the iPhone http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3515651 - nothing special about this article, just picked one at random)

      2. ukgnome
        Joke

        Re: Not really

        "in the same way as it is a park for cars."

        According to my beat up hyundai it's not a park - no swings or slides and zero trees. No wonder my car looks disappointed when I leave it there.

  3. cs94njw
    Thumb Down

    YYYYYYYYYYaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

  4. Purlieu

    Is there anything

    that Apple won't sue about ?

    I mean ANYTHING ?

    Thought not.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is there anything

      It seems not.

      Waiting for Apple to sue itself.

      1. Captain Save-a-ho
        Coat

        Re: Is there anything

        Unfortunately, that can't hire Johnny Cochran for his infamous Chewbacca defense.

      2. imaginarynumber

        Re: Is there anything

        Apple (music) did sue Apple (non-music) after the latter promised to never get into the music industry. does that count? :/

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Once more Apple lawyers try to defend the indefensible. Putting a capital letter on a word does not make it yours alone.

    How about spending some of your bags of money on creating a modern product that is actually ahead of the curve rather than putting in LTE a few years after everyone else then claiming it is "revolutionary".

    Apple - When common sense fails, marketing spin prevails.

    1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge
      Joke

      "Putting a capital letter on a word does not make it yours alone."

      But! Putting! An! Exclamation! Mark! After! Each! Word! Does!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Mushroom

        "But! Putting! An! Exclamation! Mark! After! Each! Word! Does!"

        iOr iA iLower iCase iI

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Putting a capital letter on a word does not make it yours alone."

      No, registering a trademark does though.

  6. adam payne

    Seriously? It's a store that has apps and it's a generic term.

    I'm thinking that Apple are going a bit over board with this.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Facepalm

      "I'm thinking that Apple are going a bit over board with this."

      What? Apple? Going overboard? Never!

  7. dotdavid

    Apple will lose this

    a) App Store is a generic term, just like Grocery Store is.

    b) Amazon is a US company so this can't become "The US vs Exploiting Foreigners Taking Our American Jobs" like the Apple v Samsung case.

    1. dogged

      Re: Apple will lose this

      c) You really, REALLY don't want to get into an arse-kicking contest with Jeff Bezos.

      He's not a nice person and he has no limits when it comes to counterattacks.

      1. Ru
        Mushroom

        Re: Apple will lose this

        "c) You really, REALLY don't want to get into an arse-kicking contest with Jeff Bezos."

        Dude's got a space program. Be afraid of any man who has thoughts about a delivery system that can get a hypersonic Amazon package to any point on the Earth's surface at short notice.

        1. dogged
          Mushroom

          Re: Apple will lose this

          Orbital bombardment of York weights due in Cupertino in 5... 4.... 3... 2....

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Apple will lose this

      I'm waiting for Apple to open a Hardware Store that sells iPoop hardware. Then start suing hardware stores.

  8. Jay Holmes
    Facepalm

    Unfortunately Apple may have a point about the confusing people part of the law suit anyway. As I genuinely know people who believe that "AppStore" is short for Apple Store. When confronted with the fact that the word "App" is just a shortened version of Application and that we have had them for years before Apple made it so popular, they just look at you blankly!!!

    Remember there is no such thing as idiot proof as there is always one more idiot than you counted on!!

    1. Captain Save-a-ho
      Coat

      Thankfully, the test of law doesn't weigh what idiots will think, but what a "reasonable" person will think.

      1. Jay Holmes

        I would genuinely like to believe this, but I see too many instances of law (whether decided by judges or juries) that seem to be decided by idiots!

  9. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    If I was an Apple iDevice user...

    If I was a user of any device made by Apple, I would be so embarrassed.

    Seriously, when they see Apple doing stuff like this, don't they feel the shine coming off their iToys even a little?

    1. Chris Malme
      Thumb Up

      Re: If I was an Apple iDevice user...

      They dont need to see Apple doing stuff like this, the shine is coming off their (anodised aluminium) iToys anyway.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: If I was an Apple iDevice user...

      Nope, because, believe it or not, how a company behaves does not affect my utilisation of a device bought from said company.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: If I was an Apple iDevice user...

        "Nope, because, believe it or not, how a company behaves does not affect my utilisation of a device bought from said company."

        No it's not like conflicts between Apple and a competitor would lead to the removal of a useful tool, lets say one used for navigation, from a device.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Before iOS though the mainstream term was 'Programs' rather than 'Apps' then Apple came along with their Appstore and suddenly everyone has an App store and Microsoft have shifted from installing Programs in Windows 7 to installing 'Apps' on Windows 8 from their App Store

    While I think Apple rightly don't have a leg to stand on with this claim and they should lose you've still got to admit that all these firms like Microsoft are jumping on the 'App' bandwagon because they made it cool.

    * And yes while I'll admit there were some people in their parents basements using the term app about 30 years ago they have been in the minority. In the eyes of the public until Apple the average Joe Sixpack was using Programs now they are using Apps

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "While I think Apple rightly don't have a leg to stand on with this claim and they should lose you've still got to admit that all these firms like Microsoft are jumping on the 'App' bandwagon because they made it cool."

      No they didn't!

      Stop it.

      I hate it when kids say that Apple made anything. They don't even make their own devices!

      Sorry, iWhatever is OVER, if anyone thinks they are still "Cool", the fact that it's so last decade makes you uncool and so far out of touch your in another galaxy.

      1. FrankAlphaXII
        Facepalm

        So..Obviously!

        "Sorry, iWhatever is OVER, if anyone thinks they are still "Cool", the fact that it's so last decade makes you uncool and so far out of touch your in another galaxy"

        So you've gone for the hipster tactic. Epic freakin eyeroll.

        I dislike Apple myself for their business practices since the launch of iTunes/iPod and the walled garden becoming something far out of control that everyone in electronics and computing is emulating at every tier because of Apple.

        But really, you make all of us with reasoned arguments about why Apple sucks look bad and provide a service to Cupertino's paid shills by making the rest of us with gripes against them come across as unreasonable stooges.

        So please, why don't you stop it yourself?

    2. Ragarath

      Apple only made Joe Public (not joe six pack) use it as a term. I cannot remember not calling "Programs" applications.

      Programs is what the layman used. In IT everyone I met or knew called them Applications. Now that everyone in the world thinks they know "IT" or "Computers" because they have an iWhatever and Apple are calling them Apps, all of a sudden its a new term. This seems to be a reoccurring theme with Apple and is one of the reasons amoung many I do not use their wares.

      Sorry but it is still an old term no matther how many people try to spin it otherwise.

    3. Hellcat
      Coat

      Apps?

      At school (and home) using the RISC OS Archimedes computers there were plenty of Apps, that lived in an Apps DIRECTORY. None of this PC folder rubbish. All Apps names started with an ! too - wonder who from Apple was looking upside down at an Acorn screen to get the idea for the iThings.

      Mines the one with the integrated keyboard and the OS on ROM chips.

    4. Mark .

      You're conflating two things - the idea of having somewhere to download software, and the term "app".

      For the former, Apple were the first to do it as an OS vendor, but they weren't the first, including in mobile - places to download apps were commonplace. This was more a business move, as they get to take a 30% cut, and that's the reason MS are now trying to do it.

      The reason they didn't before it because if MS proposed a plan that let them get 30% cut of all software, they'd have been widely criticised (especially with all the antitrust suits they had). But no, because it's Apple, they get praised for the same thing - which now means MS can get away with it.

      As for the latter, no, the term "app" was commonplace (and the fact you have to argue with an ad hominem shows you have no valid argument). And if "app" is more common now, that's not because of Apple, it's because of the media using the term a lot, and because of ordinary people using it. Not once have I had an Apple employee say to me "app", but countless times I hear it in the media, and from other people. Language is not defined by an organisation, it is defined by what people in general say.

      Mythical Apple firsts are common, but it's ludicrous when it gets to the point of saying that Apple now invented or popularised aspects of people's language!

      So no, Apple didn't popularise it, it was ordinary people and the media using a term that is easier to say than "program". And no, Apple can't be credited with thinking of it first either.

    5. Tim Brown 1
      Pint

      Palm first

      I had (still have in a cupboard somewhere) a Palm Treo smartphone before Apple even dreamed of making a phone. Programs that ran on it were called applications or apps. Admittedly there was no integrated app store on the phone then since you'd purchase from a website 'app store' and then sync the app onto the phone.

      Come to think of it, Palm did a hell of a lot of stuff before Apple...

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "....its service "has the characteristics and/or qualities of Apple's App Store services". "

    What? Full of shite content for a shite phone?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  12. 1Rafayal
    Joke

    Petition Time

    I think it is about time that El Reg started a petition to get Apple to change its name to Melon.

    Or Pear.

  13. The Knit Server

    Apples New tag line

    Innovation by litigation

    alternatively "it just sues"

    1. TheOtherHobbes

      Re: Apples New tag line

      Nice try.

      But easy grounds for a legal challenge by Apple because it's prejudicial to all their employees named Sue.

  14. JaitcH
    Thumb Down

    Confused?

    Not me, Everyone knows that Apple is a monopoly, unlike Amazon and Android/Google, and doesn't let lemmings, or sheep, roam wild..

  15. magnetik
    FAIL

    " from the fragmentation of the number of App Stores out there that people are going to pull their hair out, because they’re going to have a variety of updating methodologies, and a variety of payment methods, and slightly different derivatives"

    Which is why nobody shops on the internet right? C'os it's far to tricky to figure out how to put card details into forms for all these different shops, or type your PayPal / other payment credentials in.

  16. walatam

    Wow

    Y'know, Apple has way too much money to throw around.

  17. Mike Brown

    Ive had quite enough of this.....

    Im going to open my own app store, and sell apples. Red ones, green ones, pippens, cox's, grannie smiths the lot. If its an apple, I will sell it. That should tie Apples lawyers in so many knots they wont be able to sue anyone else.

  18. imaginarynumber

    any minute now

    Just waiting for Apple to sue the HM Gov and the Job Centre, after all it is widely known that the Job Centre (Center?) is where apple devotees pray to their former L Ron Hbbardesque master.

    I see that years after people have been making carbon fibre laptops Apple have patented the concept......

  19. mark l 2 Silver badge
    FAIL

    What difference does it make to Apple if Amazon do call it an Appstore, even if some idevice owner did think that Amazon's appstore was some way affiliated with Apple, they would soon realise when they visit Amazons store that they can't purchase apps for iOS there anyway.

    There two stores are not competing for the same customers, Android users will not buy from the Apple appstore and vise-versa.

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