First, the family of Professor Edward Kasner sued Google. The family claimed that the name Google was infringing on Kasner’s mathematic term, Googol. Now, another group has filed suit against the search engine, claiming Google infringed on their company name. The company filing this suit is called Googles, with an “s”.
In a press release dated today, it was reported that Googles filed two separate suits against Google, both concerning trademark infringement. The first complaint opposed Google’s application of its trade mark for a long list of “Google” goods and services, including children’s books, stickers and children’s clothing.
The second Googles petition calls for the cancellation of existing registrations for email and search engine services.
Googles is a children’s oriented web site. Since its startup, Googles has worked to develop story lines around its “Googles from Goo” alien characters, games, music recordings and other elements to expand its web presence. Googles has also released stickers, plush animals and CDs in order to promote itself and to generate revenue.
Steven A. Esrig, CEO of Darnestown, Maryland-based Stelor Productions, which has the exclusive worldwide rights to the GOOGLES mark and characters, said:
“The web is a big enough space for both of us, but not if Google trespasses on our domain for children. Even though Google Inc. is bigger, better capitalized, and more widely known, the company can’t continue to pretend we don’t exist. We were first in this trademarked space, and Google has no right to seriously damage our brand and our business. That’s what trademark law and intellectual property rights are all about.”
According to Esrig, Googles seeks a co-existence agreement with the search engine. The search engine has given no comment to this latest of its many pending lawsuits.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest search news.
