Apple may have lost its first attempt to keep Amazon from using the term “App Store” to refer to its online store for mobile applications, but that has not slowed the company down.
In the latest bullying incident made by Apple Inc., GetJar, an independent site for free mobile apps, was issued a cease and desist letter from Apple’s attorneys over the use of the term “app store.”
In the written request, Apple Inc. said that GetJar “immediately cease all use of Apple’s APP STORE mark on the website getjar.com” and “agrees to refrain from such uses in the future.”
Apple owns the trademark on the term ‘App Store’ and is pretty serious about trying to prevent other companies from using the term. Earlier this year, the company sued Amazon for trademark infringement after Amazon.com released its Android AppStore. Apple failed in its first attempt to stop the online superstore from using its trademarked term, but the issue will not be decided until the trial this autumn.
The reason why Apple is targeting a small company like GetJar is the company wants to show people that its lawsuit against Amazon needs to be taken more seriously.
In a statement, GetJar Chief Executive Officer Ilja Laurs said: “We were surprised to get this cease and desist letter from Apple which asks us to drop the use of the term ‘app store’ in the ‘About Us’ section of our website and in any other marketing materials. GetJar has been in the business of offering apps to consumers since 2005, well before Apple, and helped to pioneer the model that the general public understands as an app store today. We have built a strong, global and growing business around this model, and plan to continue to use the phrase ‘app store’ to describe what we do. This move by Apple is yet more proof that the company tends to act as if it is above the law, and even as one of the smaller players in the space, we won’t be bullied by Apple.”
via: PC Pro
A "seize and desist"? Has Apple gone in for kidnapping now?