Legal News

Do Google Execs Dream of Infringement Suits?

By Ashby Jones

There was a bit of good news on Tuesday for all those, like us, who’ve yet to buy into the hype and snap up an Apple iPhone: a worthy competitor could soon be on the way. Google unveiled its Nexus One phone on Tuesday in a presentation that wasn’t perhaps as slick as those put on by the maestro Steve “wait, there’s just one more thing” Jobs, but garnered a lot of attention nonetheless. Click here for the WSJ story on the announcement; here for Walt Mossberg’s early review. (Spoiler alert: Mossberg calls the Nexus One “beautiful and sleek” and “like[s] it a lot.”)

The Google announcement didn’t steer entirely clear of controversy, however. Family members of science-fiction author Philip K. Dick are outraged, alleging that the device’s name infringes on one of Dick’s most famous novels, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” published in 1968. Click here for Nathan Koppel’s story in the WSJ.

“We feel this is a clear infringement of our intellectual-property rights,” said Isa Dick Hackett, a daughter of Dick and the chief executive of Electric Shepherd Productions, an arm of the Dick estate devoted to adapting the late author’s works. An attorney for the estate declined to elaborate on what legal steps it has taken.

“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” which served as the basis for the 1982 cult film “Blade Runner,” follows a bounty hunter chasing androids known as Nexus-6 models. Hackett believes Google referenced that work in coming up with the name for its new phone, but the company never called her family or attorneys for permission to license the name.

A Google spokesman declined to comment.

Hackett argues the association between the phone and the book are cemented by the fact that the Nexus One runs Google’s Android operating system.

But does Hackett have a good case? It’s not so clear. One issue is whether consumers are likely to be confused and think Dick’s estate was associated with Google’s phone.

“Will people buying the Google phone hear the Nexus One name and think that is just like in ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’” asked Marc Reiner, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney, who isn’t involved in the matter.

Characters like Mickey Mouse and Indiana Jones that have served as bases for products are much more likely to be able to gain trademark protection. “A character in a book does not automatically get trademark protection,” Reiner said.

It also may be more difficult to win a trademark case in regards to a word like nexus, which is used in other contexts apart from the characters in Dick’s novel, said Beth Goldman, a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, who isn’t involved in the Google matter.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 06, 2010 (boomark / email).