Back in early January we saw an update for the case that had Apple going after Amazon for the use of the term app store. At that time US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that there was no false advertising on the part of Amazon. Simply put, the judge dismissed the false advertising claim, however it left open the trademark claim.
Moving back up to the present day and we have word of a date. The details are coming by way of a Bloomberg report which notes that US Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte in San Francisco has directed Apple and Amazon “to confer on March 21.” These talks will include the lead attorneys as well as anyone having “full authority to negotiate and settle the case.”
The interesting part here, the March 21, 2013 date will have this case in talks almost two years to the date of when Amazon originally launched the Appstore. The store launched in March 2011. Of course, it is important to remember that the March 21 event is just talks and the actual trial is set for August.
Otherwise, what Apple is trying to accomplish is to have Amazon blocked from using the term app store. Apple claims that Amazon is infringing on their trademark. Apple originally launched their App Store back in 2008. That all being said, given this has been ongoing for such a long time, the March talks may be a necessity, however we wouldn’t be surprised to see this go to trial (as scheduled) in August.
The term “app” has been around way longer than Apples crappy app store. I think Jobs was banging someone at the patent office, how else could crApple have gained all these ridiculous patents/copyrights.