Microsoft seeks to toss Apple ‘App Store’ brief, says font too small
In the legendary rivalry between Microsoft and Apple, there have been many subjects of dispute. But this may be a first. And no, the headline above is not from The Onion. — Microsoft, opposing Apple's attempt …
Context & Ripple Effects
The 'App Store' trademark fight has escalated in stages: Microsoft opened with a January 2011 filing arguing Apple can't claim exclusive rights to the term, and Apple answered in early March by defending the mark while calling Microsoft 'clueless' in the process. Now the dispute has dropped from substance to procedure: Microsoft wants Apple's brief thrown out on formatting grounds, specifically the size of its typeface.
The move reads less like a legal argument than a signal that Microsoft will contest Apple's claim at every step — and it hands both companies' PR teams an easy round in a rivalry where even the filing paperwork becomes part of the public back-and-forth.
First-order effects
- If the motion succeeds, Apple's substantive defense of the 'App Store' mark goes unread in this round, costing Apple time and momentum in the trademark proceeding.
- Microsoft gains a low-cost delaying lever it can reuse — objecting on procedural grounds forces Apple to refile compliant documents before the merits are even reached.
Second-order effects
- A drawn-out procedural fight raises the stakes of each side's public messaging, since neither can win quickly on paper; expect continued press-friendly jabs like Apple's earlier 'clueless' framing.
- Other companies watching the case get a live read on how defensible marketplace names are — the outcome shapes whether rivals must brand around terms as common as 'app store' or can contest them outright.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds toward Microsoft's January position — that a phrase this descriptive cannot be exclusively owned — the industry drifts toward treating storefront terminology as shared vocabulary, weakening trademark protection for platform-specific commerce names generally.
- Trademark disputes between the two largest software platforms becoming routine news suggests naming rights over digital-distribution language will be contested as fiercely as patents once were.
The trend: As app marketplaces become core distribution channels, the big platforms are fighting over the very words used to describe them, with trademark filings turning into a public rivalry theater.