It’s hard to believe but it’s true, Nexus One trademark has been taken by Integra Telecom long before Nexus One smartphone was launched by Google.
Google’s recent trademark application for Nexus One was rejected for this reason as it could be confusing with Integra Telecom’s, who’s “Nexus One” apparently generates almost $60 million in revenue. (That’s what they are saying but I haven’t found one piece of evidence that says Integra Telecom is actually using it. Take a look at their website yourself, there’s no services/products mentioned with “Nexus One”. Perhaps they are trying to just get some money from Google for the trademark, who knows?)
Of course, also consider the fact that trademarks can also co-exist for some cases if they are under different industries. In this case, it might be a huge problem as Integra Telecom seems to lie in similar industry as Google’s Nexus One.
Google’s response to their denied trademark?
We continue to claim rights to the Nexus One trademark in the United States, and plan to respond to the office action from the United States Patent Trademark Office,
This could mean that Integra Telecom is falsely claiming $60 million in revenue from the Nexus One trademark. Even if they are, it’s going to be hard to get the Nexus One trademark, even for Google.
Perhaps the best way for Google to settle this is with a small settlement. With billions of dollar at the bank, this shouldn’t be much problem for Google, especially they’ve already launch the smartphone.
I also find it hard to believe that whoever came up with the name Nexus One at Google didn’t check the USPTO to see if Nexus One was taken already.
UPDATE: Actually, I just did a search but there’s no Nexus One trademark registered other than Google’s, which was registered December 10th, 2009.
Could this story be a hoax? I hope PCWorld did their homework as I don’t find Nexus One registered at USPTO.giv.
