Getjar tells Apple where to stick its App Store

ONLINE APPLICATION STORE Getjar has been challenged by Apple over its use of the name App Store and has promptly challenged it back.

Apple has sent the firm a cease and desist letter, much as it did to Amazon, over the use of the term. Perhaps it sent it as recently as last week when its legal experts were in court hearing how the term 'app store' was too generic to claim ownership. If so that would have been rather silly.

Perhaps with this in mind, Getjar starts its response, which it published openly on its blog, with a call to arms and a reminder that this is not just a case of it against them, but of Apple against everyone.

"This isn't really about Apple vs. GetJar. It would be presumptuous of us to think so given the difference in size and scale that's apparent between the two companies," says the letter, which is signed by Patrick (Mad) Mork, Getjar's chief marketing officer.

"Better yet, we don't even compete with Apple. Nobody can on iOS as they're a closed ecosystem. We merely re-direct Apple users to Apple's App Store as a courtesy. We do this for free with nothing in return."

According to Mork, Getjar does not benefit from any association with Apple's App Store, rather his firm provides benefit to it.

"We don't even get much Apple traffic and our Android traffic is hundreds of times larger and strategically far more important," he wrote.

"Why do we even do it? Because as the largest FREE app store that serves consumers on over 2,500 devices in 190 countries we don't discriminate against Apple users although Apple apparently chooses to discriminate against us. The truth is that we're both really surprised and also very disappointed with Apple's C&D notice."