I’m not sure why this is even still up for debate. Apple is still trying to claim that the phrase “App Store” is not generic, and can only have one possible common meaning: Apple’s iTunes App Store.
“Apple denies that, based on their common meaning, the words ‘app store’ together denote a store for apps”
I understand their argument, and in any other context they would be correct. If they were selling Widgets, and called it the “Hippopotamus Bonanza”, they’d have a rock solid argument. Neither “hippopotamus” nor “bonanza” has any generic meaning within the context of their store for Widgets. You put them together, and the phrase “hippopotamus bonanza” has nothing to do with actually selling widgets. Anyone uttering the phrase “Hippopotamus Bonanza!” could only possibly mean one thing.
However, “App Store” is different. “app” is an App. It’s 2011, and the term “App” has been in common usage to refer to computer applications for decades. I don’t think anyone debates the common meaning of the word “store”. If you put them together, the phrase “App Store” can only mean “A store for Apps”. Apple would have you believe that it can only mean “Apple’s store for Apps”, which was true 4 years ago, but only because they had the first store and there was no competition. But it isnt 4 years ago, and there are now many app stores. Sure, the others may be branded specific names (Android’s App Marketplace, BlackBerry’s App World), but they are still App Stores in the same way that Borders and Barnes & Nobles are Book Stores. Really, Apple should have seen this coming. The first person to open a book store probably was smart enough to assume that more book stores would follow, so using a name other than “Book Store” to avoid future confusion is a good idea.
Even Steven Jobs can’t keep this straight. In Apple’s quarterly earnings call to investors last fall, he had a few interesting quotes:
“Eric Schmidt reiterated that they are activating 200,000 Android devices per day, and have around 90,000 apps in their app store”
“Amazon, Verizon, and Vodafone have all announced that they are creating their own app stores for Android. So there will be at least four app stores on Android…”
That pretty much sums up the entire argument. Apple is trying to protect a trademarked phrase that is the only generic way to describe this category of things. Ask anyone to describe what Apple’s App Store, Android’s App Marketplace, and BlackBerry’s App World are in one phrase, and they will call them all “app stores”. There is no other word to describe them. “App Store” is a generic term.