Google – is it generic?
Two men who registered hundreds of domains containing the “Google” keyword, asked the Ninth Circuit to revive their case that was dismissed at an earlier stage.
The argument is that “Google” is so commonly used, that it has become a generic term, meaning “to search the Internet.” They are seeking to render the Google trademark invalid.
According to an article at Law360, Richard Michael Wirtz of Wirtz Law APC, attorney for plaintiffs David Elliott and Chris Gillespie, stated that the lawsuit was improperly dismissed by U.S. District Judge Stephen McNamee at the summary judgment stage.
The attorney states that there was plentiful evidence that includes consumer surveys, testimony by linguists and dictionary definitions suggesting the word “Google” has become generic.
But Google attorney Angela Dunning of Cooley LLP, told the judges that the plaintiffs provided no evidence proving that “Google” is a generic term in reference to all search engines, or that it’s common to call any search engine “a google.”
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