Denied: Google’s Nexus One Trademark Request

by Rob Jackson on March 17th, 2010 at 10:35 am

Google wanted to trademark the name Nexus One but have just been DENIED by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Apparently the name is too close to an Oregon-based company’s product: their company is called Integra Telecom and the product is called Nexus, offering T1 data connectivity for businesses.

OregonLive.com caught up with an Integra rep for a response:

“We appreciate that the PTO is protecting our trademark rights. Integra has over $60 Million in annual revenue associated with our Nexus brand and it represents millions of new revenue for the company each year. Google hasn’t contacted us since the PTO issued its objection but we hope we can work together to achieve our respective business goals.”

Sounds like Google may have to pay up to purchase rights for the name, continue using the name,obtain the trademark for the name with exception clauses intact, or find a new name for future Google devices. There is some more information about the judge’s insight/ruling on OregonLive.

Could they be eventually suckered into using the term “gPhone”? I doubt it – but boy would THAT stir the Apple vs. Google pot that is already boiling!

In the news:

Google: Nexus One is Too Old for Ice Cream

Nexus One

4.5 / 5 stars

android17
I personally like the name Gphone. Its directly competing with the icrap…. and it sounds gangsta ;) lol
The_Omega_Man
I’m afraid to ask….”What’s next?”
Matt
Why not just shorten it down and legally call it the N1?
Summerfish
Calling it GPhone is too close to iPhone because it can be put as gPhone. But you have to realize too that I think these things are all weird. We have Android Watches, which have been around longer than the Android OS, and we have Nexxus hair products. So names are hard to come by I guess now-a-days.
Maddy
$60 million? That’s chump change for Google. They can just buy the company and be done with it :).
http://www.omgandroid.com Android App Reviews
gPhone would look so funny and it would piss off Apple a lot.
zdaxxy
Ummm, did the people at Google not Google the name first before naming their product? ROFL, monkeys flinging poo over there I tell you…
Miguel
Does Google research ANYTHING in the Trademark office before they name it? Geeez…
Matt
Yes #8 and #7, google does research it. The existing trademark is not even close to what the Nexus One is.
James
I always call it the gPhone.
Instant recognition as the Google version of the iPhone, and immediate interest.
Try explaining Android.
Jose
I bet Google will work out an agreement with these guys pretty quickly.
Zizz
VERIZON, “I Just need a DAMN phone”.
David
It’s just an initial refusal. Google still has an opportunity to argue with the examining attorney before a final action and can still take it to the Trademark Trials and Appeal Board and Federal Court. Also, a likelihood of confusion does not look to see if the goods and services are similar, but instead whether they are related. For instance, would they be used together? So, the fact is, cell phones are useless without the registrant’s services; therefore, they would likely to be used together. So it would be like Google coming coming out with a phone called T-mobile. Would you think a phone called T-mobile came from T-mobile?
webby
Google will just buy the goofy US Patent Office, which would also solve a whole lot of other problems caused by the cranky curmudgeon running crApple
Dennis
Considering their goal to provide fiber.. I like the idea of them buying this company.. kind of narrows search for a town, just do it somewhere where that this company services..
Brad
Interesting. This strikes somewhat close to home, because Integra is one of the two ISPs the hosting company I work for uses. Small world, huh?
Rick Deckard
I see 10 years down the road when the Nexus Six is released. Then we’ll have to test it if it’s a replicant.
Yanoe
But doesn’t Acura patent the name Integra on the car?
Craig
Sounds like the whole Apple-Cisco “Iphone” debacle. What ever became of that?
Abrown
Eww gPhone? why did you have to lower case the g and then higher case the P? If they’re going to make it a gphone it should be Gphone, G-Phone, G Phone, or any other way of putting it…not only does gPhone just look stupid it’s like nails scraping a mobile chalkboard. Android is not an iPhone rip off, it’s its very own mobile revolution. Steve Jobs can whine and cry that Google “stole” his idea, but thats just an over generalization of what Android really brings to the table. My personal opinion is that Google should look for a different name, there are plenty that are out there that haven’t been scooped up by trademark yet. And I was never in love with “Nexus One” as a name anyway.