Trademark law goes by category. Elastic uses theirs for a software product as well as a service, whereas Amazon is using it for their cloud services (not as a s

Trademark law goes by category. Elastic uses theirs for a software product as well as a service, whereas Amazon is using it for their cloud services (not as a standalone software product). This is why Apple Corps (music, Beatles) and Apple Computer Inc. were allowed to coexist. This situation is a very fine line between the technicalities that the trademark law was written for. Amazon knows this, and they have the money to set legal precedent in court to have it their way. And so stomping on Elastic's trademark is the route they chose to further benefit from that company's reputation.