Apple has recently received quite a lot of attention from parties, due to its usage of the term "App Store". The Cupertino-based company opposed Microsoft"s usage of the term, claiming it to be an abbreviation of "Apple Store", as opposed to "App Store", which the majority of people likely assumed it to be. Unsurprisingly, the Californian company was opposed for taking this stance, but they remained firm. As reported by MacRumors, the company continues to remain firm against the usage of what Microsoft argued was a "generic term".
A small company called Amahi was recently served with a cease and desist letter from Apple for using the same term. The small, open-source start-up is relatively unknown, though Apple sent the official letter to the owner regardless. The owner of the company has now turned to his own users, asking them to help create a non-infringing name for the company application marketplace instead. Apple has also targeted smaller groups still, including the owner of a website called "pcappstore.com". This domain has been the property of the site owner since November 2008, shortly after Apple"s debut of the "App Store" for iDevices. Apple has not yet received the term "App Store" as a registered trademark, having requested it in July 2008. The Patent and Trademark Office agreed to tentatively grant the trademark in January 2010, but published it for opposition. Microsoft appears to be leading the charge for opposition. Apple has also demanded control of the "pcappstore.com" domain, stating that there is a potential for customer confusion.
These actions may appeal somewhat harsh, and the company has provided Amahi with a letter requesting a halt to the usage of the term "App Store", as well as asking them to "refrain from such uses in the future". Amahi themselves had the following to say:
Why Amahi? Why pick on such a small target when there are so many people using the app store term? Amahi is a Open Source startup, and is not even in the mobile space. We may never know ...