Apple, Microsoft Fight over Rights to ‘App Store’

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 | by Pat's Picks

You say compound noun, I say proper noun. Apple and Microsoft both brought linguists to court yesterday, in their ongoing battle to decide whether ‘app store’ is a trademark-able phrase. Apple’s language expert claimed that it was, reports the Wall Street Journal, while the linguist hired by Microsoft claimed ‘app store’ was generic: “The compound noun app store means simply ‘store at which apps are offered for sale,’ which is merely a definition of the thing itself—a generic characterization.” Apple countered by saying App Store was a proper noun, made so by the company and deserved the protection of a copyright. Apparently, there no app to determine which side is right—yet. 

Apple filed a similar lawsuit against Amazon, which began selling apps a week ago. The Seattle Times says the name Amazon Appstore is what inspired the copyright infringement suit.