Amazon has responded to Apple’s trademark suit over the term “App Store” by saying that Steve Jobs himself uses the term in a generic manner. The retail giant filed its response to Apple late Monday, asking the judge to toss the suit because Amazon is using the term lawfully.
Apple had filed for a trademark on the term “App Store” back in 2008—after an initial rejection, it was eventually approved in early 2010. Microsoft filed an objection in July 2010 on the grounds that the term was too generic, and later asked the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to issue a summary judgment denying Apple’s trademark application.
Meanwhile, Apple filed suit against Amazon last month after Amazon began marketing its own Appstore for Android. In its complaint, Apple said that Amazon was guilty of trademark infringement and unfair competition, arguing that third-party use of the term “app store” had only occurred in very limited circumstances and that Amazon was using it improperly in order to confuse customers.
In Amazon’s response, the company acknowledges that it never received authorization from Apple to begin using the term, but says that one isn’t necessary because the term is generic. The company denies that it violated Apple’s trademarks or that it’s confusing Apple’s customers, and even cited the dictionary definitions for the terms “app” and “store.”
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