US Judge Throws Out “Appstore” False Advertising Claims By Apple

Some of you guys might have remember that a couple of years ago, Apple and Amazon went to court over the “Appstore” name, with Apple claiming that the “App Store” was their trademark and that Amazon truncating it to “Appstore” was not good enough. Amazon then asked the courts to throw out the lawsuit against them and it looks like Amazon has finally gotten their wish, or at least a part of it. A US judge has ruled that Amazon’s use of the Appstore name is not false advertising which Apple claimed it was. It should be noted that this does not mean that the entire lawsuit is over and done with, but the allegations against false advertising is now out the window, although Amazon will still have to contend with Apple’s claims that the “Appstore” name is a trademark infringement.

According to Judge Hamilton (via Wall Street Journal), “Apple contends that because its App Store offers so many more apps than Amazon’s Appstore, consumers will be misled into thinking that Amazon’s Appstore will offer just as many […] There is no evidence that a consumer who accesses the Amazon Appstore would expect that it would be identical to the Apple App Store.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple
Tags: Amazon, Apps, appstore, itunes app store, Legal