With the flurry of legal challenges Apple is involved with – Lodsys and Samsung the two most recent – it's easy to forget the firm is currently also taking Amazon to task over its use of the term 'appstore'.

Said challenge may have roped in other major players like Microsoft, HTC, Nokia and Sony Ericsson, but it was yet to have any impact on the store itself, currently only available for Android in the US.

Amazon on hold

Until now. Thanks to emails sent out to developers in Germany, we now know Apple's challenge in that country is causing the online retailer to block all new app submissions from the region.

"We wanted to notify you of a recent change to your Developer Portal account; for the time being, we are not accepting new app submissions from developers located in Germany," reads the email in question.

"We have been forced to impose this restriction due to a legal action filed by Apple in Germany seeking to prevent us from using the term 'appstore.'  We believe Apple’s claim is without merit and are actively contesting it."

Game of generics

It's the first blow to Amazon's cause. Commentary until this point had suggested that in the US at least, Apple was likely to be unsuccessful in its bid to bar other firms from using the term.

Apple alleges consumers understand the term to be specifically tied to its own products and services, rather than standing for a general 'application store'.

That's a view both Amazon and Microsoft have dismissed, claiming it's a generic term that shouldn't belong to one particular body.

Still, as things stand, the legal process is ensuring Apple's efforts are successful to a degree, if only temporarily.

[source: TechDirt]