• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 2, 2013

A California federal judge on Wednesday threw out part of Apple’s lawsuit against Amazon over use of the term App Store, barring Apple from bringing a false advertising claim against the online retail giant. The ruling granting Amazon’s motion for partial summary judgment, however, didn’t affect other claims against the company, including trademark infringement, according a Reuters report today.

The Apple lawsuit filed in March 2011 accuses Amazon of misusing its “App Store” name through its launch of the Amazon Appstore for Android app storefront and related developer program. Apple has argued Amazon’s use of “Appstore” creates confusion in the marketplace, while the retailer has countered the term is so generic it couldn’t constitute false advertising.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said in her ruling that Amazon’s use of “Appstore” alone couldn’t be taken as a representation that its service is the same as Apple’s. A trial on the remaining claims against Apple is scheduled for August.