If you take all combinations of similes for "App" and "Store/Market/Center/Hub" and trademark all of them, I wonder if some random company could become a trademark troll.
This wouldn't work nearly as well, given that trademark law generally only protects marks one actually uses in trade. So, given N and M synonyms for "app" and "store," respectively, your potential troll would actually need N*M storefronts, each sufficiently similar to one or more of the established app stores to cause confusion and sufficiently successful to be considered "use in trade".
In contrast, one can hold patents without making or doing anything (including licensing the patents).
Comments
Apple: App Store
Google: Android Marketplace
Facebook: App Center
If you take all combinations of similes for "App" and "Store/Market/Center/Hub" and trademark all of them, I wonder if some random company could become a trademark troll.
You missed Amazon: Appstore
And Apple went after them for trademark infringement, so we already have our trademark troll.
Actually it's now Google Play
This wouldn't work nearly as well, given that trademark law generally only protects marks one actually uses in trade. So, given N and M synonyms for "app" and "store," respectively, your potential troll would actually need N*M storefronts, each sufficiently similar to one or more of the established app stores to cause confusion and sufficiently successful to be considered "use in trade".
In contrast, one can hold patents without making or doing anything (including licensing the patents).