Nitpick: these are all trademark issues, not patent issues.
Less of a nitpick: because these are trademark issues, the holders of the mark must attempt to defend them, or they are lost. While I happen to agree with the judge and feel that App Store is too generic to be upheld as a trademark (and agree with you about Apple Store, though mostly because most of the products there are made by Apple, unlike the App Store), I don't at all blame them for going after Amazon here - and I say that as an AMZN shareholder (AAPL too). It's probably in Amazon's best interest to rename simply because App Store is so firmly associated with iOS, never mind shutting up the lawyers and letting both companies focus on more important stuff.
Interestingly, the article mentions this was a suit over false advertising and copyright. I don't know if its wrong or our court system is that backwards, since that's very clearly not the actual issue at hand here. But then again, most of the Apple/Samsung battle should have been waged trademark grounds rather than patents too (analogy: knock-off handbag manufacturers are sued by the original designers under trademark laws too, which makes sense when you consider the concept of a trademark)
Less of a nitpick: because these are trademark issues, the holders of the mark must attempt to defend them, or they are lost. While I happen to agree with the judge and feel that App Store is too generic to be upheld as a trademark (and agree with you about Apple Store, though mostly because most of the products there are made by Apple, unlike the App Store), I don't at all blame them for going after Amazon here - and I say that as an AMZN shareholder (AAPL too). It's probably in Amazon's best interest to rename simply because App Store is so firmly associated with iOS, never mind shutting up the lawyers and letting both companies focus on more important stuff.
Interestingly, the article mentions this was a suit over false advertising and copyright. I don't know if its wrong or our court system is that backwards, since that's very clearly not the actual issue at hand here. But then again, most of the Apple/Samsung battle should have been waged trademark grounds rather than patents too (analogy: knock-off handbag manufacturers are sued by the original designers under trademark laws too, which makes sense when you consider the concept of a trademark)