A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit that aimed to cancel Google’s trademark by arguing that “google” is now synonymous with searching the internet.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday it was not enough to show that people use the verb “google” generically to refer to searching the web. The lawsuit had to show that people understood “google” to mean internet search engines generally, and not just Google’s search engine.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit said the lawsuit did not present enough evidence to support such a claim.
Richard Wirtz, an attorney for two men who filed the lawsuit, said the ruling further expands the wide monopoly already granted to trademark owners.
(AP)
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One Response
It takes a long time for a name to become so common that its trademark comes into question. Generations, not years. And “Google” is just a search engine, of which there are others. I’m surprised the judge didn’t fine the plaintiff for bringing a frivolous lawsuit.