Another day, another lawsuit. Under fire this time is the glorious search giant Google, being sued by one Erich Specht, for use of the name "Android"... which he legally owns. Yep, it turns out that Specht got awarded the the trademark in October, 2002, as Tom"s Guide states.
Specht"s lawyer, Martin Murphy, said to Forbes, "Basically, it"s a stolen name. [Specht] put a lot of thought into that name, Android. He felt, "Google is taking this away from me." The best part is that Google actually did apply for the trademark in 2007, but got turned down because it was already owned. Google appealed this, saying, "Specht"s firm had lost its claim to the Android brand due to inactivity and pointed out that Android Data had been dissolved in 2004." The PTO rejected the appeal and the company"s trademark application was left on hold. According to Tom"s Guide, "apparently Specht only recently realized that Android was a mobile OS and not a cell phone, which is why he"s suddenly making such a fuss and demanding close to $100 million from Google and all of its friends."
A spokesperson for Google, one Andrew Pederson, has said that they will defend the name vigorously. What do you think, Neowin? Do you think Google is right here, or are they wrong in using a previously registered trademark?