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Apple and Amazon.com have ended their lawsuit over use of the phrase “App Store” in marketing the companies’ competing interfaces for selling smartphone applications.  On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the case based on an agreement between the companies that will allow both to continue using the term.

The case began more than two years ago when, in March 2011, Amazon launched the Amazon Appstore for Android.  Apple brought suit that same month, claiming that it had coined and popularized App Store as the name of the unique mobile software download service they had developed for the iPhone, iPod, and iPad.  Amazon’s use of the phrase, Apple argued, was likely to cause confusion among consumers, infringed Apple’s trademark, and was false advertising.  (A copy of Amazon’s complaint can be found here.)…

Continue Reading Apple and Amazon Resolve “App Store” Trademark Dispute

By Joanne Sum-Ping with research assistance by Susan Shao

After enduring weeks of attacks from Chinese state-owned media, Apple has announced a change in its warranty policy in China.  The attacks began on March 15 when China Central Television (CCTV) criticized Apple’s customer service policies during a special program observing World Consumer Rights Day.  CCTV’s report supposedly uncovered discrepancies between Apple’s warranty policy in China and its warranty policy in other countries.  According to the CCTV report, when Apple replaces faulty iPhones in China, it retains the back cover of the original phone unless the customer pays a fee to change the back cover.  This practice is supposedly to circumvent Chinese regulations that require extending the warranty by another year if the entire phone (including back cover) were replaced.   (Apple reportedly replaces the entire phone for free for customers outside of China.)…
Continue Reading Apple Changes Warranty Policy in China Following State Media Attacks