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Google Sued Over Chromebook Name
nk497 writes "A PC maker is suing Google over the Chromebook name, saying the brand infringes on its own computer, the ChromiumPC — which was originally intended to run the open-source Chrome OS. Isys Technologies wants Google and its partners to stop marketing Chromebooks, and is hoping to delay the 15 June launch. The company also claims that Google had originally been planning to call the netbook-like devices 'Speedbooks.'"
Google makes their own hardware? Niceeee...
The three laws of thermodynamics:(1) You can't win. (2) You can't break even. (3) You can't even quit.
Rofl.
Wait, wasn't THEIR name specifically trading off of Google's trademark to begin with? How does that even work?
Wait a sec, Google made Chrome OS. Are they trying to hijack the name or what? LOL!
And here I was thinking that Google owned the trademark to "Chrome" as it refers to browsers and "Chromebook" would be an extension of that. How on earth is "Chromebook" the same as "ChromiumPC Modular Computer"?? The nerve some companies have these days.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110699231322
Now, that's a bit different from the "Tiny launched bizarrely quixotic suit against Google hoping to make some fast bucks" implied by the headline, isn't it?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Correct me if I'm wrong... (I know, I'll have 30 people do this automatically) but isn't Chrome OS owned by Google? Shouldn't they be allowed to call their own product by a name they own? If they were trying to call it ChromiumPCBook, I can understand....
Any chance that this post was backdated? You know, post scheduling...
I'm sure that this move was made not because the company thought it was going to win, but merely to garner additional publicity. I'm sure they'll pull out early (that's what she said).
Insert signature here...
This is interesting. Both ChromiumPC and Chomebook are obviously derived from Chromium, ChromeOS and Chrome, which are trademarks owned by Google. If someone trademarks a term derived from my trademark before I create a new trademark derived from my trademark, can that someone really claim that I'm infringing?
I realize this gets complicated by the fact that trademarks are specific to market categories, so it's not infringement to create a derivative (or even duplicate) trademark in a different market space. But the PC space is awfully closely related to the PC operating system space... I would think that Microsoft would stomp all over someone trying to market a WindowsPC brand, and that the courts would support them because it would create market confusion.
In short, to my non-lawyerly eyes, I would think Isys is more at risk of having the court shoot down its ChromiumPC mark than Google is of losing its Chromebook mark.
Maybe the suit is just Isys' way of snagging some free publicity for their product. Heck, for that matter, Google might even be willing to play along for its own share of that free publicity, though that seems very non-Googley to me.
(Disclaimer: I'
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
I know Chromium is open-source, but shouldn't Google or some open-source organization obtain the trademark for Chromium to prevent commercial entities from pulling tactics like this?
I am not a lawyer, but you would think there is precedent. Does Mozilla Foundation have a trademark for Firefox? Does TDF have a trademark for LibreOffice?
Do I not recall a trademark case a while ago where Facebook were trying to get *book trademarked?
To me Chromebook and ChromiumPC doesnt seem so simmilar. Since name Chromebook with Chrome refers to OS and book to lap top. ChromiumPC doesn't mean anything specific like that to me beside Chrome beta (why would u want to say u will run chrome development?) to anything of those 2, and PC to pc in general not lap top in particular. Really wondering how this will turn out. We might see Apple bugging others for app store not for its trade mark but for having APPle in it.
computer is nothing without a power just lika as bullet in nothing without a gun
Ummm, Chrome /= Chromium, right? So while the names are similar, and the devices are similar (both netbooks/laptops), what drives them is technically different.
Totally. Google have been using 'Chrome' since 2008. Xi3 since 2009-2010. It's obvious they are just taking a cheap shot at google to see what falls out. The ChromiumPC is specifically designed to run Chromium (os) so how can they say that they were using the name first. Jokers. They should be counter sued.
Seriously.
Appstore, app store.
Chromium PC Book
Chrome PC Book
SERIOUSLY?
Don't use an obvious name and try to make it a unique name.
This company wanted a name to sound as if they are the only legitimate reseller of chromium-based hardware and are pissed that google won't allow it.
Bloody hell.
USA has a broken system.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
ChromiumPC =/= Chromebook
Two very different names, just as Honda and Hyundai are very different names.
I'd be annoyed with Google if they tried to sue the other company too,
Since you can understand that s1 can infringe on s2 even though s1 != s2, can you explain it? Are you sure you haven't been brainwashed? Of course lawyers will say that infringement can occur because they can be put out of a job by std::string::operator==. I would like an argument not tainted by COI.
Doesn't R. Talsorian Games have a trademark on 'Chromebook' for the series of cyberware and gear compendiums for the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG?
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
Lawyers, start your engines...
The last paragraph of the article reads:
Zenger claimed Google delayed Isys' trademark registration until it could launch its own Chromebooks last month, "thereafter demanding that Isys cease and desist using its ChromiumPC mark and abandon its application for registration".
So it seems that they are doing this as a reaction on Google. If they are right to do so, nah. Maybe Google should have reacted earlier on the ChromePC name though, you should protect your trademarks.
FTA:
Isys said it filed for tradmark registration of the ChromiumPC name in June 2010, receiving interim approval in October 2010, and claimed to have been using the name for 18 months. Google first announced the Chrome OS in 2009.
Isn't it a bit of a stretch that they apparently used that name with the intent to run Google's OS nearly a year before news of the OS even went public? You'd think lying on these kind of documents would nullify the registration.
so you're going to sue Google for giving you an OS to put on your Chromebook in the first place? It wouldn't even be called a Chromebook if it wasn't for the OS in the first place. Not to mention, chromebook is one of those coined terms. It is like trying to sue the person that came out with the term Notebook.
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
Google should get its best lawyers and completely wipe this company out.. This is plain absurdity, the names aren't even that similar.. You build hardware around someone else's operating system then try to sue them for using a name too similar to your own (which really isn't that similar to begin with). Let them die.. 2 months from now, nobody will remember the name. I usually stick up for the little guy, but not when the little guy is a punk ass bitch.
It is much easier to get money by sueing someone than actually making a product.
Product development is expensive and sales might be disappointing. The risk for losing money on the project is rather high.
Now compare that with sueing someone: it is cheap to initiate and the possible payout is huge. So what if you won't win every time? It all works out in the end.
That's why industry pushes software patents and hard IP laws. They all think there is more money in sueing newcomers for all they have than making an actual product.
It's the invent your own disclaimer game!
"(Disclaimer: I'"m someone who will accidentally hit "submit" in the middle of a sentence.)
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I'm pretty sure Google has the Chrome trademark. Since the maker is suing because their "Chromium" is too much like "Chrome", would it not suffice that Google could sue saying exactly the same thing. Sounds like a troll looking for a settlement. I think Google should spend the extra money and bury them legally.
I8-D
Reminds me of the Superman rights/trademark issue. Where he has to be trademarked in every domain (comics, movies, clothing, toys, etc...). PC machines vs OS. And yes, sometimes it creates stupid scenarios such as this. A nd, with Superman, sounds like DC/WB have their hands full now (well, the specific issue at hand has been going on a while). Possible scenarios are say the original creators controlling his looks, DC controlling the name. From a forum (so salt and all that):
*The blue and white, electrically-powered Superman of the 1990s was created for precisely this reason. In case the families won the rights to the intellectual property of Superman, they would have to change Superman's look and powers. So the electrical Superman was created as a back-up in case this happened, because DC would still own his name but not his image.
*The names Superman and Superboy, or the Superman costume have never been used in the Smallville TV series.
*Superboy was killed off in Infinite Crisis, and Superboy Prime was re-named Superman Prime. This happened at a time when a ruling against DC made it look like they would lose the Superboy copyright.
posted: bigbadbruce on: http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/web/thread.jspa?threadID=2000245076&start=34
News:
http://www.movieweb.com/news/man-of-steel-legal-issues-could-split-superman-franchise-in-two
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/05/28/what%E2%80%99s-in-the-marc-toberoff-%E2%80%93-superman-stolen-document/
Atlas Shrugged : Thematic Story
Suppose (insanely, I know) that Mac OS X was OEM'd out to PC manufacturers, and one of them decided to build a PC and call it the "Mac PC." Ya think Apple would be all cool wi'dat?
Can we just stop calling them books? They don't burn as easily.
"Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins
I need to trademark FirefoxPC
Let me get this straight.. "Chromebook" is confusingly similar to "ChromiumPC Modular Computer" presumably because of the one thing the two names have in common: a reference to the same metallic element. And yet the ChromiumPC maker's marketing gimmick was that they were going to preinstall Google's software which is named after that same element.
It sounds like the only argument they'll have, is that they are first into the market with hardware named after that element, which is the reason that their element reference didn't infringe Google's trademark. Ok. But then why didn't you just name your hardware "Chrome?" Is it because your lawyers told you that it would be trademark infringement? If so, then you must think your hardware infringes Google's software trademark as much as Google's hardware trademark infringes yours. If not, it's because you were too stupid to give your computer a descriptive name. Either way, you suck.
Correct me if I'm wrong
This is the Internet. Someone will correct you even if you're right.
They're presumably calling their device a ChromiumPC because they're borrowing part of the Chrome name from Google's software. As I'm quite certain Google has the Trademark for Chrome, wouldn't the PC maker in fact be the ones potentially infringing?
Note: I don't think either party is infringing, but as Google owns the trademark at least for "Google Chrome" and "Chromium", this is just moronic.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
Please to see that this story is appropriately tagged with 'goodluckwiththat'. The first thing that came into my head.
http://www.acetonestudio.com
Does anyone here remember the original pulp RPG 'Cyberpunk' which featured an add on book with the title of "Chromebook" featuring new parts your cyborg PC could purchase. "Chromebook" is NOT new as far as terms go or titles.
Don't they also own Chromium?
Shouldn't ISys be sued by Apple for using the 'i' prefix?
Correct me if I'm wrong
This is the Internet. Someone will correct you even if you're right.
Correction: Oh. Wait.... Never mind.
Stylish sheet to fix many problems in Slashdot's D3: https://gist.github.com/801524
Wait, what? Are you s2, and I'm s1? Or is Microsoft s1 and Apple is s2? I'm not sure of anything, man, I got no idea what's going on right now.
I have no STDs, I don't operate a string, and I'm sorry, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
Besides... what do decorative japanese goldfish have to do with anything?
I hear Hitler had goldfish...
No they won't.