Apple is in the process of trying to trademark the term “App Store” but Microsoft has stepped forward to try to block that move. Microsoft has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reject Apple’s request, saying that “app store” is a generic term and other companies use it or will want to use it. “Any secondary meaning or fame Apple has in ‘App Store’ is de facto secondary meaning that cannot convert the generic term ‘app store’ into a protectable trademark,” write lawyers for Microsoft in a motion for summary judgment, filed yesterday with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. “Apple cannot block competitors from using a generic name. ‘App store’ is generic and therefore in the public domain and free for all competitors to use.”
They also point to Steve Jobs using the term “app store” to describe Google’s Android app store or App Store or whatever.
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