A Possible Risk with google? Important

[MozoVote]

"hey they could not care less if someone said 'Google' child porn. "

I dare you to make up some t-shirts and sell them online.

LMFAO!!1!

 

[constitutional]

This is a serious concern that the author has brought up. I don't believe these people working on blimp are concerned... they are going after one thing and one thing only: money.

 

[jp5065]

If they don't sue for use of their name without their permission then they risk losing all IP rights to their name.

Yup, just like asprin used to be a registered trademark, unitll they didn't fight it when someone used it. Now they have no rights to it at all.

If Google sued, could they stop the blimp from flying until the lawsuit was over?

 

[Rhys]

Honestly, a Tie in is a great idea. Instead of just saying "Google" we could definitely ask Google if they want their actual logo instead of just the word. They could then pay $25k. That would pay for the employee.

If not, there's nothing illegal about saying Google. Google has a decreased expectancy of privacy, being in the public eye. Worst case scenario, they send a cease and desist order and by the time everything with that happens, the blimp comes down anyway.

EDIT: It's also like saying "Eat at Burger King" on a blimp. No company in their right mind would ask a huge block of customers to not support them by asking people to use their service.

 

[Matthew Zak]

Dutch

You probably want to keep google and ron paul separate colors/styles

 

[AAjax]

If the phrase "Google Ron Paul" is put on the blimp, isn't that running a risk of getting into some type of legal issues with Google?

That question absolutely needs to be answered because if that is put on the blimp, and the answer is yes, and Google gets upset, it could end this entire project.

In the end it promotes their product, so I would figure it wouldnt be much of an issue

 

[bolidew]

Remove "google"!

 

[Rhys]

Another thing we know about google is, they don't have any problem giving things away. They make their money by selling advertising. People see their adds when they "Google" something. And trust me, NO ONE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD will ever not advertise on Google because of something we do. We could put Google Ron Paul on one side of the blimp, and Google Child Porn on the other, as someone suggested... Advertisers would still advertise with Google. However, Google probably would get involved at that point.... along with the campaign!

But, like I said, Google gives things away every day. They're really not going to be concerned about us asking people to "Google" Ron Paul. If anything, they'll be happy.

It does however, never hurt to ask... for money.

 

[ItsTime]

this just proves how terrible of an idea this whole thing is.

Anyone find out where the money is going if the blimp does not take off? Are the lawyers getting paid with your money, the person working "20 hours a day" getting paid with your money and THE BLIMP DOES NOT EVEN FLY.

Great idea everyone.

 

[Joe Schwartz]

barfs at the google nonsense....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_(verb)

It's not nonsense. Google has to ensure that nobody uses their name in a generic sense. I've heard that Google employees are discouraged (or forbidden?) from using "Google" as a verb. And Google is required by law to protect their trademark, or else they risk losing it.

 

[Danny]

Google has said it intends to crack down on the use of its name as a generic verb, in phrases such as "to google someone."

The Internet search giant said such phrases were potentially damaging to its brand.

"We think it's important to make the distinction between using the word 'Google' to describe using Google to search the Internet and using the word 'google' to generally describe searching the Internet. It has some serious trademark issues," a representative for the search company said.

http://www.news.com/Google-wants-people-to-stop-googling/2100-1030_3-6106479.html

 

[Rhys]

This is all part of why the blimp team got a lawyer, I'm sure.

There's really nothing left for the group to debate about, unless you just want to.

There's a lawyer, money, blimp, staff, flight plan, and name. If any serious issues arise, I'm sure they'll be solved. We should all be fine.

The lawyer will ask Google if they can use their name. If Google says no, they wont use their name. No biggie.

 

[robert4rp08]

Google is definitely trademarked by the company.

However, "google" as a verb is not trademarked (as far as I know).

 

[Scaryclouds]

I'm sure they are planning on it... But they must contact Google before using it as the graphic on the blimp. By putting "Google Ron Paul" that could suggest to people Google endorses Ron Paul. Even if a large amount of Google employees support Ron Paul (it seems they support Obama more judging by campaign contributions) Google, as a company, has not officially endorsed Ron Paul, nor should we expect them to as it could hurt their business (sadly not everybody loves Ron Paul).

 

[axiomata]

Has the company's lawyer checked into this?

http://www.news.com/Google-wants-people-to-stop-googling/2100-1030_3-6106479.html

I'd gladly take on the FCC and its anti-first-amendment laws but there's no reason to risk getting into it with Google. Especially since the company is incorporated I think there may be a small chance of problems arising.

Someone needs to look into this.

 

[paulpwns]

pre law here


the reality is, they might challenge this, as it puts them in danger of losing "google" to the public domain, much like xerox and kleenex did.

Tivo is another one that is hoping not to lose trademark.

 

[Tarzan]

pre law here


the reality is, they might challenge this, as it puts them in danger of losing "google" to the public domain, much like xerox and kleenex did.

Tivo is another one that is hoping not to lose trademark.

I think they have a double problem... the dictionary now lists "google" as a verb, xerox and kleenex were not words until the company created them... google was a word in the dictionary before it was used by them.

 

[Trigonx]

I don't see the big deal at all, its basically free advertising for Google, since you really only google things at Google.

 

[split_lipz]

I think google should pay us for the free advertising.

 

[torchbearer]

google is a verb in websters dictionary.
Google is a proper noun, the company.