Ready for some more news from those "exciting" legal front-lines where companies fight over things that most of us view as unimportant? Fair enough, I understand that you do not share the excitement, but this news fits the theme of our little blog and just belongs here! So, the latest story this time is about Apple’s claim that Amazon’s use of the term “Appstore” actually constitutes false advertising. So, Kindle Fire HD fans, what do you say about that?!
This is actually an extra law suit which just ads onto Apple's previous claims that Amazon was guilty of stealing the name from Apple. They claim that this brand theft had caused them a lot of harm and that compensation is required to even out their loss. Apple's case was based that on the idea that the similarity of the names had fooled users into believing that the two stores were somehow related and that Apple's reputation was abused in this matter. However, the truth is that the claim is quite absurd as you would have to be quite uneducated to mix the two as they are available on totally different platforms and aside from the the name, the rest of the branding is very unique on both sides and there isn't a pixel of similarity in the designs. It is a good thing that Amazon really thrives at creating unique design and that there is no way to link their Kindle Fire HD with the iPad for another law suit!
Unlike the court cases where it seemed as though Samsung was punished for no reason, Amazon did not meet the same case. This is not a Korean company on foreign soil, but a full American retail giant which knows its rights! The court threw away the charges and stated that Apple had failed to show how Amazon was deceiving consumer and causing harm to Apple.
The judges states:
“The mere use of ‘Appstore’… cannot be construed as a representation that the nature, characteristics, or quality of the Amazon Appstore is the same as that of the Apple App Store.”
However, the law suit is not over yet as the court is yet to reach a verdict on whether or not Amazon has caused damage and stolen Apple's trademark with their Amazon Appstore name. If Amazon is found guilty then we can assume that they will be forced to change their branding and pay a fine to Apple, which is something we certainly don't want to see! On the other hand however, we are sure Amazon will have more than enough funds to take care of things as their Kindle Fire HD sales are booming great and Amazon was once again voted for the title of the bran with the best customer satisfaction (for an eight time!).
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