Android OS in trademark legal battle
by Stevie Smith - May 4 2009, 15:15
What's in a name? About $100 million USD according to Erich Specht. Image: Edlimagno/Flickr.
Search giant Google Inc. and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) are presently facing the prospect of being dragged through the courts by a disgruntled Illinois-based software developer intent on contesting the collective’s Android operating system for mobile devices.
Rather than taking specific aim at the operating system platform in relation to its coding and functionality, Erich Specht of Palatine, Illinois, is suing Google and the other 46 contributing members of the OHA regarding an alleged trademark violation of the name ‘Android’.
According to Specht, founder of Android Data Corp., the Open Handset Alliance has infringed upon a trademark he officially registered back in October of 2002, which is well in advance of a similar application put forth by Google and the likes of Intel, T-Mobile, Samsung, Motorola and Vodafone some five years later.
Usage of ‘Android’ by the Open Handset Alliance, “will undoubtedly lead to deception, confusion and mistake among the consuming public,” noted the legal complaint submitted to a federal court in Chicago by Specht on April 28.
“We believe these claims to be without merit,” commented a Google spokesman to Bloomberg in a telephone interview regarding the lawsuit. “We will defend against them vigorously.”
The ‘Android’ trademark application put forth by Google and the Open Handset Alliance was initially rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in February of 2008 on the grounds of prior ownership by Specht’s company. However, the Open Handset Alliance has since appealed that decision because Android Data Corp. has not traded for almost four years.
While the USPTO may yet re-examine the application and side with the industry heavyweights supporting the operating system alliance, Specht isn’t likely to relinquish the name lightly and is presently seeking trademark protection and maximum damages to the tune of $100 million USD.
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