As you probably know, Google is being sued for the use of the name Android. Erich Specht, owner of Android Data Corp., is suing for nearly $100 million in damages from Google and the entire Open Handset Alliance over use of the term Android.
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His claim is that his company is being mistaken for a subsidiary of Google now that the operating system is at large.
There are several holes in his case, however. Firstly, Android Data hasn’t been publicly active for almost four years. An online search returns a site in the name of the owner (Erichspecht.com) which cites Android Data as a web company that sells “a suite of software that enables the remote administration of web and e-commerce content.”
Google’s not without fault in this case. Eric has had his copyright since 2002. When Google attempted to recieve a copyright in 2004 for the Android moniker, they were denied. Instead of coming up with a new name, Google pushed forward with this one.
I don’t forsee too much coming of this suit aside from a lot of press coverage (which will be good for Eric’s company) and possibly Google having to put “Android is a registred trademark of Eric Specht” in some inconspicious place in their software and documentation. Lets face it, Google plans to defend itself ‘vigirously’ and I’m pretty sure that they have better lawyers than Eric can throw at them.
Next in this saga: An out of court settlement.
