Apple Files Lawsuit Against Amazon Over ‘App Store’ Trademark

Amazon has had an “appstore” developer portal since January; a place where developers can submit mobile applications for approval and then sell them on Amazon’s website.

Bloomberg reports that Apple has filed a lawsuit against Amazon Inc. on March 18th over the “App Store” trademark used in their developer portal…

“Amazon.com since January has started to solicit developers for a future mobile software download service, Apple said. Amazon.com has used “Amazon Appstore Developer Portal” and “Amazon Appstore” in connection with this service, according to the complaint.”

You may recall that Apple had filed a trademark for the term “App Store” with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office in July of 2008, and had been awarded the trademark in January of 2010. This is the same trademark Microsoft has been fighting over. Microsoft claims it to be a “generic-term“.

Apple claims it reached out to Amazon on three separate occasions demanding Amazon to rename its developer portal, but when they didn’t receive a “substantive response,” Apple decided to take it to the California Courts. The lawsuit also covers some “unspecified damages,” and Amazon has yet to comment on the lawsuit.

We’ll keep you updated once more details emerge. Until then, we’d like to hear your thoughts on the matter in the comments!