A zoomed illustration image of a man looking at a computer monitor showing the logo of Amazon is seen in Vienna November 26, 2012.

SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Jan 2, 2013 2:26pm EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday rejected part of Apple Inc's lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc's use of the term App Store, ruling Apple cannot bring a false advertising claim against the online retailer.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, granted Amazon's motion for partial summary judgment, which only challenged Apple's false advertising allegations. Apple leveled other claims against Amazon, including trademark infringement.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment, and an Amazon representative could not be reached immediately.

Amazon has stepped up competition against Apple in recent years, launching its cheaper Kindle tablet computer to go after the dominant iPad and trying to lure mobile application developers to its Kindle platform.

One of the first public clashes in their tussle was Apple's 2011 lawsuit.

Apple accused Amazon of misusing what it calls its APP STORE to solicit developers for a mobile software download service. However, Amazon said its so-called Appstore has become so generic that its use could not constitute false advertising.

In a legal filing last year, Amazon added that even Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and his predecessor, Steve Jobs, used the term to discuss rivals. Cook commented on "the number of app stores out there" and Jobs referred to the "four app stores on Android."

In her ruling on Wednesday, Hamilton wrote that the mere use of "Appstore" by Amazon cannot be taken as a representation that its service is the same as Apple's.

"Apple has failed to establish that Amazon made any false statement (express or implied) of fact that actually deceived or had the tendency to deceive a substantial segment of its audience," Hamilton wrote.

A trial on Apple's remaining claims is scheduled for August.

The case is Apple Inc v. Amazon.com Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 11-01327.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Jeffrey Benkoe)

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n">Aug 9 (Reuters) - Research in Motion Ltd said a U.S. judge had ruled the company had not infringed on Mformation Technologies Inc's patent and overturned an award of $147.2 million that a jury said the Canadian firm should pay.

The verdict is a minor boost for RIM, whose stock has fallen more than 70 percent in the past year as customers abandon the BlackBerry in favor of Apple's iPhone and a slew of devices using Google Inc's Android software.

Mformation sued RIM in 2008, bringing claims on a patent for a process that remotely manages a wireless device over a wireless network, a court filing says.

In July, a northern California jury directed RIM to pay an $8 royalty for every BlackBerry device connected to RIM's enterprise server software, bringing the total award to $147.2 million.

RIM had argued that Mformation's patent claims were invalid because the processes were already being used when Mformation filed its patent application.

Judge James Ware said Mformation failed to establish that RIM had infringed on the company's patent and subsequently overturned the jury award, according to court papers.

"We appreciate the judge's careful consideration of this case. RIM did not infringe on Mformation's patent and we are pleased with this victory," Steve Zipperstein, RIM's Chief Legal Officer, said in a statement on Thursday.

Mformation has the right to appeal the ruling. However, if Mformation successfully appeals the ruling, the jury verdict would not be reinstated and instead a new trial would be conducted.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Mformation Technologies Inc vs. Research in Motion Ltd et al, 08-04990.

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