Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

google doesn't want to be 'googled'

The Google Weblog reports that lawyers for search engine Google requested that the verb “google” be removed from, or its definition modified in, the online dictionary Word Spy. (“Google asks to be removed from dictionary” - 02/26/03)

The WordSpy definition of “google” (now updated with a Google trademark notice):

google

(GOO.gul) v. To search for information on the Web, particularly by using the Google search engine; to search the Web for information related to a new or potential girlfriend or boyfriend. (Note that Google? is a trademark identifying the search technology and services of Google Technologies Inc.)

?Googling pp.

Site owner Paul McFedries posted an excerpt from the letter he received from the Google lawyers.

It’s a testament to Google’s usefulness and success that the site has pervaded even in our modern lexicon. (According to Merriam-Webster, this is called “antonomasia.”) However, under U.S. patent and trademark law, if product name becomes part of the general lexicon and refers to a general type of product or activity (rather than the brand), a company could lose its right to the trademark. Hence Google’s attempt to aggressively enforce its brand.

Technology law site Bitlaw has an explanation of this kind of trademark issue (bottom of the page, under “generic marks”).