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Microsoft Sued Over Bing Trademark
mentus writes "Bing! Information Design, a design company from Missouri, is suing Microsoft over 'intentional interference' with their trademark and claiming Microsoft had knowledge of the trademark when it relaunched its rebranded search engine. Microsoft legal representative Kevin Kutz states that he believes the case will be dismissed and that Microsoft 'always respect[s] trademarks and other people's intellectual property, and look[s] forward to the next steps in the judicial process.'"
I reserve my opinion until Mat Perry's declarations on the subject.
However, a trademark application for the name was not filed until May - when rumours about Microsoft's new product had already spread widely across the internet.
Microsoft, meanwhile, filed its own trademark applications for the name in March - for a variety of uses, including search engine software, interface software, advertising, telecoms and for "providing a website and website links to geographic information, map images and trip routing".
Aren't you obliged to protect your mark? Seems to me they have nothing on MS.
Lauren:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSNK-9v7_JI
I can't find it, but hasn't this been discussed earlier?
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
Uh, did this lawyer just fall off the turnip truck or what? Hate to tell you this Skippy Suit, but this ain't the first time Big Daddy Desktop has been in a courtroom for shit like this.
Microsoft definition of being "respectful" is cutting a check large enough to be bought out or go away.
"...a trademark application for the name was not filed [by the plaintiff] until May - when rumours about Microsoft's new product had already spread widely across the internet."
"Microsoft, meanwhile, filed its own trademark applications for the name in March - for a variety of uses, including search engine software, interface software, advertising, telecoms and for 'providing a website and website links to geographic information, map images and trip routing'."
Says it all really. This company didn't even bother trying to establish trademark rights until two months after Microsoft, after news of the new engine had leaked. This screams trademark troll.
$_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print
Unless they are in the search-engine business, I'm not sure they have a trademark claim even if they were first. There is little likelihood of confusion after all.
failed business from Missouri suing failed search engine for mostly unknown brand of zero value.
839*929
Yeah, right. Microsoft always respects other companies trademarks. Except when they don't like them. Tell that to Lindows who Microsoft unsuccessfully sued for trademark infringement, and who eventually sold the Lindows trademark to Microsoft for $20 million.
I was hoping a meme would catch on, to call it "binge," but that never happened. Maybe they should just add the E themselves, to avoid the trademark dispute. (Yeah, I know, the trademark claim is incredibly weak, but I can dream.)
[
So what does the Crosby family have to say about this?
I believe Microsoft's going to win this one. From the article:
Hmm. Microsoft got bing.com a while ago
WHOIS results for bing.com
Created on..............: 1996-01-28.
The Wayback Machine shows the first Microsoft Bing.com site (Coming Soon!) in 2003.
Now, Bing! is Bing.biz which is registererd (in Madeira, Portugal)
Domain Registration Date: Wed Nov 07 00:01:00 GMT 2001
and it says ion the web site
Bing! is a small design firm started in 2000 in St. Louis, Mo.
So, I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, but it looks to me that Microsoft started thinking about using this name back in 1996. If they didn't actually start using it until 2003, they will probably have to settle. If they did something back in 1996, as long as it was public, and they kept records, Bing! will lose.
If they shout out Bing! they should be alright in Balmer's book.
I can't verify if this video is true, but if it is... Damn, that shows quite a temper right there.
Anyone want to hazard a guess for its authenticity?
If a business or trademark name is "deceptively or intentionally similar" to an established entity, it is technically in violation by definition.
The thing is that nobody had heard about Bing before MS. As such, MS wasn't trying to benefit from the fame that the name already had. If they began manufacturing footwear and chose Nike for their productname, I could see the motivation: Appearing to relate to an established entity in order to sell more. But creating a search engine called "Bing"? I don't think any of us had the first reaction of "Ah, like that Bing Information Designers?" but we all thought "Ah, what a stupid name. :D"
I'm not saying that MS didn't know of the company. They certainly should have researched more. But I can't understand why would they intentionally choose something deceptively similar to something that nobody had never heard of before. While MS knows that they can face anyone in court, I would assume their sizeable legal team had forced them to adopt strict and heavy processes to avoid this kind of stuff. To me this seems more like a fuckup committed by some very low level employees than anything decided by high management.
Is the shitty weeaboo cafepress link necessary in your sig? It's hard to take you seriously.
Bing! and bing(TM) .. :)
I hear Zombie Bing Crosby is none too pleased, either.
Am I alone thinking that if this company wins their suit maybe Microsoft would actually rename their search engine to something not as cringeworthy?
Microsoft 'always respect[s] trademarks and other people's intellectual property, and look[s] forward to the next steps in the judicial process
Yeah, right. Just ask Homer Simpson about it.
So someone else too is stupid enough to choose the same stupid name, and is even stupid enough to defend that name?
Did I say stupid enough?
Microsoft legal representative Kevin Kutz states that he believes the case will be dismissed and that Microsoft 'always respect[s] trademarks [...]
The case being dismissed would be not respecting the trademark.
With being able to say such a soulless twisted lie right in our faces, without even twitching, I’m sure he’ll soon have a job in the government. :/
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Are you suggesting a new name for Bing -- perhaps "Bung"?
Liberal? Conservative? Compare perspectives at Left-Right
Ah, I see you have the lawyer that sues Bing! He is my favorite. You see, he works on a contingency basis and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
Frankly, I think it's too bad for these guys. If they felt they had such a distinctive identity they should have trademarked it sooner. They had 9 years to do so and didn't bother until Microsoft introduced their rebranded search engine. Being in the design industry myself, we've recommended clients trademark their identities a number of times. These guys, working in the same space should have realized the same for themselves.
They don't even come up in the first 10 pages of a Google search so they apparently didn't bother doing much to promote themselves. Although the results are laden with references to the search engine I was able to find a couple of businesses in there, two examples being The Bing Group and Bing's Bakery.
Then there's the fact that the search engine and this company don't inhabit the same space at all, so whether or not they had been trademarked would possibly have been irrelevant. That said, anyone who knows about the search engine will probably make the connection when they see the name. Whether it will hurt them in any way is debatable, at worst it will be a conversation piece which will be easily explained away especially since they've linked it to the concept of a lightbulb. The problem is that this company doesn't even use their own identity consistently and the Guardian doesn't even get their name right. Their own site refers to the company as Bing! Information Design, but then elsewhere on the site they refer to themselves as Bing!
Considering that they're designers they're likely Apple devotees. They might feel wronged, but I bet they're relishing the opportunity to take on evil Microsoft.
This reminds me. Apple Computers blatantly stole their name and logo from Apple Records. Apple Records agreed not to sue them into oblivion so long as Apple Computers promised not to get into the music business. That was nice of them.
Apple Computers did get into the music business, and are now the #1 retailer of music. Apple Records said this was a clear breach of their contract. Apple Computers replied with "get bent, and we'll do whatever the fuck we want."
Time and time again, Apple does all the evil things that Microsoft gets blasted for. Why exactly does Apple get a free pass?
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
Since it is such an obvious case, it is clear that MS's only motivation to settle would be to avoid costs. Hopefully, MS sees the moral hazard in encouraging such blatant criminal behavior, and instead decides to counter sue.
The very first complaint filed should be against the plaintiff's attorney, for failing to do due diligence. (This is a law in most states, I swear.)
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
5 chars vs 4 chars
Sorry, but I don't see what a random rant about Apple has to do with this.
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
After Lindows, why not?
Firebird (The Browser)
sued by
Firebird (The Database)
These are not easy to confuse.
But the Database Firebird still sued.
Intel and their Pentium sued Gentium, a geological survey company (they folded, but what's latin for earth?)
Seems like these lawsuits for trademark and patent infringement are a good way to advertise. Take Microsoft to court and people notice.
No respect. MS only paid after shopping around for a court in a country that doesn't use english and therefore have not use "windows" as the name for the holes you want in your wall so you can see outside.
troublesome, they chose a recursive name that ends on ING .. for BING Is Not Google. 26 possibilities for that name. They should've gone for KING (haha), YING, or ZING. Or possibly DING! Here are your search results.
No, no, no. It should obviously be "Bong". And while they're at it, maybe change to logo to some form of star shaped leaf. I think that really would raise Microsofts credibility.
I'd guess that the "s?" is a given considering what he's telling you to suck, no? (The again, in this day and age, maybe not...AAAAGGGHhHH!)
Over-the-top Response Guy! Giving "Over-the-Top Responses" since 1970.
Stacker.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Bungholio!
"Ned. Ryerson! Needlenose Ned, Ned the Head, come on buddy, Case Western High. Ned Ryerson, I did the whistling bellybutton trick at the high school talent show. Bing! Ned Ryerson, got the shingles real bad senior year, almost didn't graduate. Bing again! Ned Ryerson, I dated your sister Mary Pat a couple times til you told me not to anymore."
Bung is the past tense, as in, I really Bunged up that search. Bettered Google it next time.
lol: You see no door there!
Wouldn't Microsoft have Goog.... I mean 'Bing'ed 'Bing' first to see if someone else was already using it?
There are other vowels that would be equally suitable :-)
Can't use "y", though.
I thought Bing was a brand of surfboards from the 60s dude!
What's brown and sounds like a bell? BUNG!
If "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and "it was beauty that killed the beast" then "please stop staring at me".
That's the worst idea i've ever heard. What the hell are you smoking?
English words belong to the public, to the people, and should never be trademarkable. This includes Bing, Apple, Socks, Oranges, Articulate, Office.. etc If a company wants to trademark a name, then at least the name should not consist of just one word, and it should be distinguishable.
Lord Smoked Meat and Fishes dot com
I do have some comments filtered, but I haven't seen a Windows vs Linux argument spawn from this, and it's been more than twelve hours since this article was posted!
Why, no, I haven't meta-moderated lately. Thanks for asking!
I see it now! Go! -> Go, Bing! -> Bing, Yahoo! -> ( )
In Jalisco, Mexico there is a chain of ice cream parlours called Bing.
Bung sounds like what happens to you in prison: "Damn, Bubba bunged me again."