One bit of news that I thought deserves some attention is that Apple has sent a cease and desist letter regarding the open source Amahi’s use of the term “app store” in an attempt to vigorously defend what Apple believes is its trademark. Aside from what I believe (albeit as someone with a tech background and a Juris Doctor although I have never and do not currently practice law) on how generic the term “app store” has become, I do want to take this opportunity to highlight that Amahi needs help in naming its (App)lication Store for the future.
More details can be found on the Amahi Blog including how one can submit an entry on the store’s new name. Amahi is certainly a platform that, time permitting, I do want to feature more on the site.
Probably one of the worst parts about this is that these types of things are generated by a very well funded Apple legal team and procedurally can take up a lot of contributor time which, in turn, detracts from the team’s ability to continue delivering on new features and fixes.
One bright side is that both Amazon.com and Microsoft are currently fighting Apple’s trademark attempt, and a victory for those companies would open up the use of the term “app store” in the US and elsewhere.
