By Min Wu

Apple has been seeking a trademark for “App Store” in Australia since the launch of its App Store service in 2008. According to ZDNet, the Federal Court in Sydney held a hearing to resolve the dispute between Apple and the Registrar of Trade Marks of Australia.

In the hearing, Apple attempted to show that the term has been inherently associated with its service by the public since 2008. To refute Apple’s position, the Registrar noted that “appstore” was registered as the trademark of another U.S. company well before the 2008 launch of Apple’s App Store.

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December 06, 2013

By Matt Klinger

Data privacy officials from across the globe gathered in Poland last week for the 35th Annual International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners.  The conference attendees adopted eight resolutions on various privacy issues including a call for increased cross-border cooperation in data privacy investigations and recommended safeguards for parties that engage in profiling. 

Attendees also adopted a declaration addressing the "appification" of society. The declaration emphasizes that app developers should only collect data necessary for their product's performance and calls on operating system providers to offer more granular privacy settings on mobile devices.  The commissioners warned that if their efforts to encourage better privacy practices regarding apps do not have "sufficient effect," they "will be ready to enforce . . .  legislation in a global effort to reclaim user control."

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October 02, 2013