Edible Apple

A few weeks ago, a court threw out Apple’s claim of “false advertising” it had levied against Amazon over its use of the phrase “app store” in its Amazon Appstore. Still, Apple’s claim for trademark infringement remained as the case remains in the discovery stage of litigation with trial anticipated for later this Summer.

Bloomberg is now reporting that the two sides have been ordered by the court to engage in settlement talks in the hopes that they’ll be able to come to an amicable agreement without having to go through the entire legal process.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte in San Francisco directed the companies to confer on March 21 and to bring their lead attorneys and people who have full authority to negotiate and settle the case, according to a court filing today. A trial is scheduled for August.

Interestingly enough, Amazon in its filings has noted that Apple executives (from Tim Cook to Steve Jobs) have in the past made reference to competing “app stores”, thereby signifying that the term is generic and not subject to trademark protection.