Google Fights to Protect Trade-mark from Becoming Generic

Trade-mark counsel for Google recently sent "wordspy.com" ("Wordspy") a letter asking it to "make sure that when people use "˜Google,' they are referring to the services our company provides and not to Internet searching in general." Wordspy is an online dictionary that references newly coined words used in the media. It had defined "google" as a verb meaning "to search information on the Web, particularly using the Google search engine." In response, Wordspy added a trademark designation so that the term now appears as "Google™" to satisfy the company. Google joins the ranks of companies owning brands like Xerox, Kleenex, Frisbee and FedEx, with varied degrees of success, to prevent their trade-marks from becoming generic terms. Under the trade-mark laws of certain countries, trade-mark owners risk surrendering their rights if the terms become generic, that is, part of common usage. For more information visit: http://news.com.com/2009-1088-984352.html http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/biplog/archive/000673.html http://australia.internet.com/r/article/jsp/sid/12843