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Google & Others Sued Over Android Trademark

Posted by Soulskill on from the grab-that-cash dept.

suraj.sun tips news that Google and 47 other companies are being sued over use of the "Android" name. Eric Specht of Android Data alleges that Google "stole first and asked questions later." According to The Register, "Google applied for a trademark for Android in October of 2007, but had that application denied in February of 2008. The USPTO's reasoning for the denial was simple: Since both Google and Specht were involved in the development of software and related services, 'consumers are likely to conclude that the goods are related and originate from a single source.'" Reader ruphus13 points out related news that Motorola is planning several Android-based phones for later this year.

4 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. This is typical stuff. by Albert+Sandberg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1) Register a company with a cool sounding name
    2) Run your business like usual
    3) Watch another company make a huge success using your name and wait a bit.
    4) Sue them and profit!

    Have you heard about Android Data before google made their move? Thought so.

    1. Re:This is typical stuff. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not really. Being a trademark it's easy enough to search this up.

      That you haven't heard about it isn't the problem here. If a small business creates a business with a certain name - then of course they have the right to that name - and the right for protection against larger 'dogs' stealing their company name.

      And then there is gmail, which google cannot use in Germany, and which crashes with an older email-product called Gmail in Norway.

    2. Re:This is typical stuff. by MadCow42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Have you ever actually been responsible for naming products at a large corporation???

      As easy as it may sound, it's one of the single most difficult things to do. Creating a name that has the right feeling and meaning to it, while satisfying all stakeholders AND copyright people is next to impossible. You'll always have n+1 opinions on what name is best, assuming n people are involved in the process.

      The only "simple" way is a dictatorship - such as a sole proprietorship in a small company where the owner does this him/herself.

      MadCow.

      --
      I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
  2. Android is much older than that... by meerling · · Score: 3, Insightful

    IANAL

    I don't think he'll have much luck pressing a case against anyone using 'Android', just those using 'Android Data' for the same reason that 'Bovine Ventures' won't succeed in suing 'Bovine Growth Hormone'.

    If you don't know, it's because Android is just a single word that's been in the modern language for a couple of generations now. Apparently there are laws against somebody absconding with single words of our language and claiming sole ownership of them. Of course the courts are slow and stupid, so anyone fighting this will have to pay lots of lawyers lots of money before getting this crushed, but at least Google has that cash.

    By the way, those same rules or laws are the same reason why Google can't rub their hands together and laugh maniacally while preparing lawsuits against thousands of authors of science fiction, not to mention a fair stack of movies as well.