According to TechEye.net, an Oregon company, CollegeNet filed suit against Google, alleging that they infringed on its trademark of the term “Speedbook”.
“The lawsuit, claims that Google has filed for a trademark of the same term, which is an infringement of CollegeNET’s trademark, and that due to Google’s stature in the industry this will cause significant harm to CollegeNET’s business.”
“CollegeNET says that if Google uses the name, which is rumoured to be for a Google product to be released before the end of November, potentially in the form of an Android tablet or netbook, then it “is likely to overwhelm the goodwill and brand association CollegeNET has built up in the Speedbook mark.”
“CollegeNET also claims that Google pursued this trademarked name “knowingly, willfully, and in bad faith,” clearly an attempt to ensure that Google cannot play the “I didn’t know it was trademarked” card.”
“The lawsuit asks that the courts forbid Google from using the Speedbook trademark, to never engaged in unfair competition with CollegeNET, and to immediately cancel its application for the trademark. ”
There was a similar “cease and desist” filed by ITV Plc Media against Apple Inc, several months ago, for possible trademark infringement on the ITV moniker which Apple hinted at using for their Apple TV. While a lawsuit was never actually filed against Apple, executives at ITV threatened to go after them if they used the name. I also recall reading something about Apple running into problems with the iPhone name at some point. It should be interesting to see the outcome in the Google case, I think in most instances the smaller company is (rightfully) looking for a payoff.
Very sloppy naming–Google should have grabbed the domain for sure. But more than that–the name itself is not worth fighting for–here’s why: http://tiny.cc/ki6ym
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