OT: Google successfully defends mark against "generic" claim

[single317dad]

Hopefully of some use to a future visitor:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2014/09/15/google-successfully-defends-its-most-valuable-asset-in-court/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2014/09/15/google-successfully-defends-its-most-valuable-asset-in-court/

 

[quincy]

Hopefully of some use to a future visitor:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2014/09/15/google-successfully-defends-its-most-valuable-asset-in-court/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2014/09/15/google-successfully-defends-its-most-valuable-asset-in-court/

I am not surprised that Google was able to argue that their trademarked name "Google" has not become a generic term, because they have an army of attorneys and lots and lots of money.

That said, I personally think that people use with frequency the word "google" as a verb to refer to using any search engine, much like people using the word Kleenex to refer to any tissue and using the word Xerox to refer to any copier.

Like Google, though, Xerox and Kleenex were able to defend their trademarks against claims their marks had become generic, but they had to spend millions of dollars advertising their brands and emphasizing the fact that their names were registered trademarks.

The former trademark holders of "Escalator" did not fare so well in defending their mark.

 

[Just Blue]

I am not surprised that Google was able to argue that their trademarked name "Google" has not become a generic term, because they have an army of attorneys and lots and lots of money.

That said, I personally think that people use with frequency the word "google" as a verb (ie, Why don't you google it) when referring to using any search engine. This is similar to people using the word Kleenex to refer to any tissue (e.g., you don't hear people saying "I need a Puffs"), and when using the word Xerox to refer to any copier.

Like Google, though, Xerox and Kleenex were able to defend their trademarks against claims their marks had become generic by spending millions of dollars advertising their brands and emphasizing the fact that their names were registered trademarks. And Google, in addition to this latest fight over their trademark rights, earlier made sure that dictionaries are not defining the word "Google" as anything but an identifier of their company and its services, and not a term that applies to a search of the internet.

The former trademark holders of "Escalator" did not fare so well in defending their mark.

I alway tell people to "google". What search they use matters not to me. Google has become a rather gerneric term to me.

I also as for a tissue. Not a Kleenex.

I ask if i can make a copy..Not a Xerox.

lol...I guess "2 out of 3 ain't bad."

 

[quincy]

I alway tell people to "google". What search they use matters not to me. Google has become a rather gerneric term to me.

I also as for a tissue. Not a Kleenex.

I ask if i can make a copy..Not a Xerox.

lol...I guess "2 out of 3 ain't bad."

The Kleenex and Xerox advertising campaigns apparently worked on you. Google needs to step it up.




(As a note, I hadn't read the Forbes article before I posted and, after reading it, I discovered I repeated some of what was said there - so I edited down my original post a bit)

 

[Just Blue]

The Kleenex and Xerox advertising campaigns apparently worked on you. Google needs to step it up.




(As a note, I hadn't read the Forbes article before I posted and, after reading it, I discovered I repeated some of what was said there - so I edited down my original post a bit)

I guess it did!!

Google came to my attention WAY LATER in my life ...Perhaps that made the difference? IDK.

 

[quincy]

I guess it did!!

Google came to my attention WAY LATER in my life ...Perhaps that made the difference? IDK.

I grew up thinking Kleenex meant all tissues, I am not sure I ever really used the word Xerox, and I hadn't realized until I was older that there even was an "Escalator" trademark.

And I often use Google as a verb, knowing full well that it isn't.

The Google case does demonstrate nicely how hard a trademark holder must sometimes fight in order to retain rights to their mark. It also explains nicely why cease and desist letters are sent by trademark holders with some frequency - getting someone to stop an unauthorized use with a letter is far cheaper than having to go to court to stop the use through a lawsuit.

 

[single317dad]

I also grew up calling all tissues a Kleenex. Another I've heard all my life is Band-Aid. I've never used the term Xerox, but I know people who do, mostly those who were office workers in the 1960s and 70s (think Mad Men). I never even knew there was an Escalator company.

It seems being "the best" early in a market is a good way to become genericized. It also seems like a great way to make a lot of money

I suppose losing a war is also an effective way to lose your trademark, as happened with Aspirin and Heroin.

As competing businesses go, Coke and Pepsi seem to get along pretty well (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/05/AR2006070501717.html), but I wouldn't be surprised to see a challenge there one day.

 

[quincy]

I also grew up calling all tissues a Kleenex. Another I've heard all my life is Band-Aid. I've never used the term Xerox, but I know people who do, mostly those who were office workers in the 1960s and 70s (think Mad Men). I never even knew there was an Escalator company.

It seems being "the best" early in a market is a good way to become genericized. It also seems like a great way to make a lot of money

I suppose losing a war is also an effective way to lose your trademark, as happened with Aspirin and Heroin.

As competing businesses go, Coke and Pepsi seem to get along pretty well (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/05/AR2006070501717.html), but I wouldn't be surprised to see a challenge there one day.

I forgot about Band-Aid. I always refer to all bandages as bandaids, too. The advertising campaign Band-Aid had, though, tried to make it clear in their jingle that Band-Aid was a brand name and not a generic term for all bandages ("I am stuck on Band-Aid brand 'cuz Band-Aids stuck on me").

Coke and Pepsi have had a couple of notable court skirmishes, not only over trade secrets. There was an unfair competition claim made over the Pepsi taste-testing challenges. Comparative advertising can be a fair use of trademarks if no false claims are made about the products being compared. That is why you can have publications like Consumer Reports using brand names in their comparison studies - but their studies are carefully controlled, and include disclaimers, so no trademark claims can generally issue from the publications.