Judge Indicates Apple Faces Difficult Path in Amazon Lawsuit

A Federal District Court judge indicated Wednesday that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) faced a difficult path to success in its trademark lawsuit against Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN).

The lawsuit is based on the premise that Amazon has improperly used Apple's popular App Store name to solicit software developers throughout the United States. Apple contends that Amazon was unlawful in its use of the name "Amazon Appstore Develop Portal," among other complaints.

Apple is known around the technology industry as a hard-nosed defender of its brand name,trademarks, and technology. It has a strong legal team that protects its intellectual property around the world.

According to a Reuters report, "At the hearing in an Oakland federal court on Wednesday, District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said she would reread some of the supporting papers in the case, according to an individual who was at the hearing. However, Hamilton said Apple had a "stumbling block" in proving that anyone would confuse Apple's App Store for Amazon's Appstore for Android, the individual said."

Judge Hamilton didn't make a final ruling.

Apple has sued Samsung and HTC, among other tech companies.