Amazon.com sued by Apple over 'App Store'

Apple sued Amazon.com, saying the online retailer is using Apple’s “App Store” trademark for a mobile-software developer program.

Apple, in a complaint filed March 18 in federal court in northern California, accused Amazon.com of trademark infringement and unfair competition and asked for a judge’s order to prevent the company from using the “App Store” name, as well as for unspecified damages.

“Amazon has begun improperly using Apple’s App Store mark in connection with Amazon’s mobile-software developer program,” Apple said in the complaint. Amazon also plans to use the name with a mobile-software download service, the complaint states.

Apple’s App Store offers downloads of software programs from the company and third-party developers for users of its iPhones, iPod media players and iPad tablet computers. There have been more than 10 billion downloads through the service since it began in 2008, Cupertino, California-based Apple said in the complaint.

“We have a long-standing practise of not commenting on pending litigation,” said Mary Osako, a spokeswoman for Seattle-based Amazon.

Amazon began using the App Store designation around the beginning of this year, according to the lawsuit. Apple claimed that Amazon has been advertising on its website a program called Angry Birds Rio that will be offered soon. Angry Birds is the name of a popular program in Apple’s App Store.

“Amazon has unlawfully used the App Store mark to solicit software developers throughout the US,” Apple claimed in its suit.

Apple said in the court filing that it contacted Amazon three times to demand that it cease using the name and that Amazon hadn’t “provided a substantive response”.

“We’ve asked Amazon not to copy the App Store name because it will confuse and mislead customers,” said Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple.

Apple applied to register App Store as a trademark in the US, and the US Patent and Trademark Office approved the application, Apple said in the lawsuit.