By this point, the term “App Store” is almost synonymous with Apple and their iconic iOS products. Apparently, Microsoft doesn’t agree, and has filed suit against the iPhone maker over a trademark filed in 2008.

9to5Mac is reporting that Windows maker Microsoft has filed suit against Apple over Cupertino’s efforts to trademark the term “App Store,” claiming “the term is generic and competitors should be able to use it.” Apple staked claim to the term with a trademark application in 2008 when the original iOS-based App Store launched, which was joined this month by the Mac App Store.

Microsoft hopes to get Apple’s trademark request denied, filing a motion summary judgment with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board on Monday. Cupertino’s “App Store” trademark request page notes “an opposition is now pending.”

“‘App store’ is a generic name that Apple should not be permitted to usurp for its exclusive use,” Microsoft argues in their complaint. “Competitors should be free to use ‘app store’ to identify their own stores and the services offered in conjunction with those stores.

“‘App’ is used in the trade, by the press, by relevant consumers, by Apple’s competitors and by Apple as the name for software applications, especially applications for mobile devices,” Microsoft’s argument concludes.

Microsoft may not have much of a leg to stand on -- as noted by BGR, Apple has already been granted trademark protection for the popular slogan, “There’s an app for that,” which may help give Cupertino the upper hand in defending their App Store trademark.

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(Image courtesy of 9to5Mac)