[url]http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/12/microsoft-sued-over-bing-name.ars[/url]
[quote]A small St. Louis company is suing Microsoft for using the name "Bing" without permission for its recently launched search engine. Bing! Information Design LLC v. Microsoft Corporation was filed on December 16, 2009 in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis and alleges "trademark infringement, unfair competition, and tortious interference with business expectancy." The small company claims it has been using the Bing name since 2000 and has applications pending to register the trademark, while Microsoft only launched Bing in May 2009.
Bing! Information Design says it uses the Internet, search engines, and its webpage as its primary sources of advertising and promotion for its interactive and computer-related illustrations, designs, interactive graphics, animations, technical diagrams, and related services. Since Microsoft heavily advertises and promotes its Bing search engine, Bing! Information Design believes it has a case. In its lawsuit, the St. Louis company alleges that the name "causes confusion with regard to the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, confuses the public with regard to the origin of the plaintiff's services and dilutes the value of the plaintiff's trademark," according to The Simon Law Firm, which is representing the company. Further, Bing! insists that Microsoft knew of the company's name before it launched Bing the search engine, and thus the plaintiff is seeking "actual and punitive damages, including having Microsoft pay for corrective advertising to remedy the confusion it caused."
Microsoft is not worried. "We believe this suit to be without merit and we do not believe there is any confusion in the marketplace with regard to the complainant's offerings and Microsoft's Bing," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. "We have not been served with a complaint, but are aware of the suit based on media reports. We respect trademarks and other people’s intellectual property, and look forward to the next steps in the judicial process."
Bing! Information Design may have a hard time convincing the court that Bing, the search engine, might be confused with Bing, the design firm. When it comes to trademarks, two companies in completely different markets are typically allowed to use the same name. Still, the design firm's slogan is apparently "We make complex ideas easy to understand" so maybe they'll pull it off. [/quote]
i would love to see microsoft get fucked in the ass by this
They didn't register the trademark, they lose it.
Bing is a shit search engine anyway.
Just a small-time company looking to squeeze some big bucks out of a major corporation over a coincidence.
This reminds me of the Luxo Jr. story.
Microsoft will come out of this unharmed, I'm sure.
[QUOTE=johanz;19040224]They didn't register the trademark, they lose it.[/QUOTE]
If you read it, it clearly says it had been trying to get it trade marked.
[QUOTE=G71tc4;19041904]Who [B]isn't[/B] suing Microsoft?[/QUOTE]Me.
[editline]1[/editline]
Wait, shit, I just BSoD'd and lost my life savings.
Brb suing Microsoft.
Hopefully they'll pick a less rubbish name now.
Or give up on bing.
The one hundred thousand complaint to Microsoft every month makes a new part of Skynet
they didn't get it trademarked in time, I don't like it anymore then the next guy, but that's how it goes.
[QUOTE=UnidentifiedFlyingTard;19050252]they didn't get it trademarked in time, I don't like it anymore then the next guy, but that's how it goes.[/QUOTE]
The thing was, they were trying to secure the trademark for a while now, yet a gigantic company like microsoft will get first dibs, sweeping all the other 'less important' patents aside because of their power in the business department.
[QUOTE=Waals Vander;19040162]
i would love to see microsoft get fucked in the ass by this[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah, that'd teach them for doing whatever it is they did. :downs:
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.