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SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft Corp. is fighting Apple Inc.’s attempt to trademark the term “app store,” saying in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that it is a generic term used throughout the technology industry.
Apple originally filed for the trademark in 2008, when the consumer-electronics giant launched its app store for the iPhone. Apple said at the time that the app store encompassed “retail store services featuring computer software provided via the Internet and other computer and electronic communication networks,” among other things.
Microsoft launched its own app store last year with the release of its Windows Phone 7 smartphone operating system.
