Judge Rules Amazon Doesn’t Mislead Using ‘Appstore’

A federal judge in California threw out part of a fraud claim by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) that alleged Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) infringed upon the name App Store.

U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, Calif., threw out the claim, ruling that the name has become generic, and that there was no fraud, saying that Amazon had not “made any false statement (express or implied) of fact that actually deceived or had the tendency to deceive a substantial part of the audience.”

Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., has used its App Store for years to sell applications and products, as has Amazon, of Seattle, which dubs its service “Appstore.” But many other technology companies including Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) have also used the term App Store without being sued.

Qualcomm, of San Diego, though, is a partner of Apple, whereas Amazon, especially with its Kindle Fire tablets, is a competitor to the iPad.

Hamilton scheduled a trial on other claims for August.

Shares of Amazon rose $1.49 to $258.80 in Thursday trading while those of Apple fell $1.82 to $547.21.