“Google:” too much a common term?
By Emma Peart
Google has once again come under the spotlight regarding in trademark law.This time the current case it is involved in highlights the question: can a trademark be revoked when the word becomes synonymous with a common term for something in the English language? There has been various examples where intellectual property law has held a trademark can be lost if a word becomes synonomous with an activity in the English language-for example the word “yo-yo” has been held as too common an activity to be able to trademarked as a product.
The current application is arguing that google’s trademark over its name should be revoked as it has become the generic term for a search of the internet.
What is also interesting is that the action is brought by an individual. The application has been brought by David Elliot after he was stopped by google from using various internet pages starting in “google…” where he had been associating the term as meaning” to internet search for..”, for example “googlecruises.com”.
Google will have to argue that the public would still associate the word “google” as the name of a business rather than an activity.
