Google to be Sued Over Name? 800
WK writes "Now that Google's IPO is running, the company is on the verge of being sued by the family of Professor Edward Kasner who invented the word 'Googol' to describe a very big number. The great-niece of Kasner who was 4 years old at the time her uncle died says that although Google has brought attention to the name, it has not brought attention to Kasner's work. Google was not using the concepts, but just capitalizing on the name."
Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now that google.com is just about to IPO you come crawling out of the wood work.
Go back home...
-mb
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
they want to become IPO insiders to put his soul to rest.
This statement is so repulsive that it would leave a bad taste for the rest of the day.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Uh... ignoring for a moment that raw cynicism inherent in that statement, isn't Google running a Dutch Auction IPO partly as a way of eliminating the whole insider/outsider dichotomy? (and partly has a way to make much more money) So the family can't become "insiders" because there won't be any insiders.
Hmmm... perhaps they just mean they want to be given shares of the company pre-IPO (not an "insider" in the traditional IPO sense). That seems even more greedy and cynical to me - there's no gamble involved at all on their part.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Trademarking a number (Score:5, Insightful)
There's also the issue of scope. A trademark does not usually apply to everything, but to a limited area. If the areas of use are distinct and unlikely to cause confusion, the same name can be used by different companies. That's why Apple Records and Apple Computer were able to coexist (until iPod and iTunes came along -- expect some serious friction coming from these two). A search site and a number are unlikely to be confused.
Finally there is the issue of asserting ownership. Trademarks can be lost if they are not used or enforced. The usual examples of companies on the verge of losing their trademarks due to non-enforcement are Xerox and Kleenex. The family has allowed (you might even say encouraged) the term googol to be used by the mathematics community for decades. To now assert that the word should be reserved for only "authorized" use is ridiculous.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
You can sue over anything and everything.
While this is often repeated, it's not completely true. A judge can dismiss your suit with prejudice, and can even charge you with contempt or the crime of barratry, depending on how poorly conceived your suit is. It is therefore a crime to sue over some things.
That's a really big number (Score:5, Interesting)
The total number of particles in the universe is estimated between 10^72 and 10^87 [stormloader.com]. A googol is 13 orders of magnituted higher then that. That means a googol is about 10 trillion times bigger then the numbers of particles in teh universe.
A googolhedron is 10^300 particles so it's 213 orders of magnitutde greater. Even if we raelise the univerese is 100 trillion times smaller then we thought, we're still not even covering a speck of what is needed. Big numbers are stupid that way.
Just some food for thought
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:4, Informative)
And yes, it pretty much eliminates insiders, which is the coolest thing I have ever heard of - unless I get to be an insider too, like the googol folks.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Except in just about every 6th-grade-level math book, which tell the story of how Professor Kasner asked his 9-year-old nephew to come up with a word for a one followed by one hundred zeroes.
Not saying this lawsuit has any grounds, but the origins of "googol" are well known.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe the origins of the mispelling.
"Barney Google and Snuffy Smith [kingfeatures.com]" was first published in 1919. Maybe King Features shuld sue Google first.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh yeah, and you bastards from alta (la) vista should be quaking in your boots. I'm in my hummer right now.
Ahnolt.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
I think Swift's estate should be preparing a lawsuit just about now...
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:4, Funny)
Dude. You were stoned. And watching "The Sound of Music".
Which simply establishes that you were in the right state of mind for a lawsuit simular to the Google one.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:4, Insightful)
I Disagree (Score:3, Funny)
Yes - they could have used a different name - but they chose this man, his work, and his word to christen their enterprize.
Decency recommends that they show some loyal tribute in return.
I don't know for how much she is asking - but the complaint to some extent looks to raise the question of the man's work into - Very large numbers.
Google sh
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:3, Informative)
Supposedly there's an SEC regulation that requires them to go public once they reach a certain profit level. At least, that's their excuse.
Daniel
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Almost. They need to report their financials once they reach a certain level. It just makes sence that if they have to report anyway to go the whole way.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Given such a scenario (of being openly accountable), any company would surely consider an IPO route to raise capital from the market vs. only that headache (once again, of being accountable).
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:4, Informative)
When you have over 500 shareholders you have to beging acting as if you were public even if youre not. That combined with the fact their initial investors have been screaming at them to do this for a couple of years kinda pushed them over the edge..
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Anyway, they hit that point where they have to do the reporting work of a publicly-traded company, which meant that the added work of going public wasn't as onerous.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:4, Informative)
Once you hit a certain plateau of shareholders (and profits), then you must behave like a public company in order to prevent fraud.
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Funny)
In other news, houses now come w/ "clear glass openings" to see out.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
*raises hand* I am. And I'm not alone. Google predates googol, as was discussed in the May 9 Sunday Boston Globe, Feelin' Googly [boston.com]. Jan Freeman [boston.com] traces the life of google from 1380 to the present day. It seems more likely googol sprang from google, than other way round.
The founders of Google admit they were inspired by googol, but as words of the english language, google predates, and most likely inspired, googol. Google should sue!
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Should the Amazon rainforest, or Brazil sue Amazon? No.
Should Half the Planet sue HalfThePlanet.com for their use of the name and reference to those with disabilities? No.
Should keyboard manfacturers sue Slashdot for using a word that describes two keys on their keyboard '/.' Well maybe, but I still say no.
As for not bringing attention to Kesner's work, the attention is in the name and meaning, and it's referenced on the corporate page
http://www.google.com/corporate/index.html
What more does the family want? Money. Isn't there a timeframe also when the word becomes public domain?
Re:Baaahhh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Are you serious? (Score:4, Insightful)
"googol" and "google.com" aren't even spelled the same! Gimme a break.
Re:Are you serious? (Score:4, Informative)
Read: Google history [google.com]
The first alinea goes...
Google is a play on the word googol, which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, "Mathematics and the Imagination" by Kasner and James Newman. It refers to the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google's use of the term reflects the company's mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite amount of information available on the web.
Re:Are you serious? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is so stupid.
Re:Are you serious? (Score:5, Insightful)
So has the word googol.
Prior Art: Barney Google (Score:5, Informative)
The name "Barney Google" is familiar to anyone who ever watched a TV retrospective of comic strips -- he's the guy with the "goo-goo-googly eyes" in the 1923 Billy Rose song they always play in such retrospectives. Many newspapers use his name in the title of one of their comic strips. And in 1995, he was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in its "Comic Strip Classics" series of commemorative stamps.
I think Billy DeBeck, creator of the strip, has a better claim to prior art than the nephew.
Re:Are you serious? (Score:5, Insightful)
Neither are Windows and Lindows. Look what happened there.
Re:Are you serious? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Are you serious? (Score:5, Insightful)
Googol is a word that some kid made up to describe a big number that existed a priori. Even if you could sell a googol of something(that'd be a whole hell of a lot), you can't sell a googol itself.
Re:Are you serious? (Score:4, Interesting)
Did you know that every single digital artwork known to man and yet to be created/discovered exists a priori?
All digital artworks can be represented as one big binary number (typically with a lot more digits than a googol).
Would you therefore use the argument that just because a digitally reprsentable work can be represented as a number from 1 to infintity (and hence exists a priori) that it therefore belongs in the public domain?
I like that idea...
Re:Are you serious? (Score:3, Funny)
Wake up! (Score:3, Insightful)
How much money do they want? (Score:5, Funny)
Thank you. I'll be here all week; don't forget to tip your server. Why not try the tuna?
Re:How much money do they want? (Score:5, Funny)
Silly (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Silly (Score:4, Informative)
From that page:
What's a Google?
"Googol" is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. The term was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, "Mathematics and the Imagination" by Kasner and James Newman. Google's play on the term reflects the company's mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web.
Re:Silly (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Silly (Score:4, Insightful)
Does anybody know what they would sue under? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is there even a realm of law that would cover such a thing?
Not that I would trust the Inqirer to report the facts without mangling them horribly...
"Mickey Mouse" is not a word (Score:3, Insightful)
This is nothing more than a bullshit land grab by theives. Period. They are trying to steal from Google and I wonder what snake put them up to it if they hadn't come up with it themselves...absolute crap.
Re:perhaps not (Score:5, Funny)
He didn't. (Score:3, Interesting)
This is ridiculous, by the way. It's like the guy who came up with the word "milennium" suing LucasFilm because of Star Wars.
Re:He didn't. (Score:5, Funny)
In other news (Score:5, Funny)
Roman mathematician's descendents sue Dr. Evil over the use of the word "Million"
Parker Brothers sued over the name 'Mr. Green' in the popular "Clue" game by the guy who invented that word.
This post brought to you by the number 3(TM), the letter P(TM) and the color yellow(TM).
Is googol trademarked? (Score:4, Insightful)
Ok, nothing to see here, move along.
How the fuck do you invent a word.
Re:Is googol trademarked? (Score:3, Funny)
Easy: Femplesnip. It means to invent new words as you go along. So I just femplesnipped femplesnip and my descendants will cite this post as prior art.
Re:Is googol trademarked? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Is googol trademarked? (Score:4, Insightful)
How is this any different... (Score:5, Insightful)
than if I named my company "One Hundred Billion?" (raises pinky finger to corner of mouth)
Can you get a copyright/trademark on a number?
You can't trademark a number (Score:5, Interesting)
Dictionarying "Google": (Score:5, Informative)
This just might be.... (Score:3, Insightful)
How to bring shame to a family name, step 1. (Score:5, Insightful)
Good one!
Re:How to bring shame to a family name, step 1. (Score:3, Funny)
How To Bring Shame and Disgrace to Your Family Name
in 3 easy steps
Ofcourse! (Score:3, Insightful)
As wel all know, potentially large sums of money can put a deceased loved one to rest. Why doesn't Google solve it creatively? Add a small line of text with a link that states what a googol is, with a tribute to Kasner, his work and his other achievements? The man and his work have been recognized, the family doesn't get a cent and everyone, except those greedy bastards, is happy.
Re:Ofcourse! (Score:3, Informative)
See the bottom paragraph
Re:Ofcourse! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Ofcourse! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ofcourse! (Score:5, Interesting)
I heard about this on NPR a couple weeks ago, before any lawsuit was going to happen. The sad thing is that only ONE idiot from the family is really pushing this- when she came on to be interviewed for a couple minutes by NPR, she said: "My sister wanted me to say that it isn't *THE FAMILY* who has a big problem with this, it is *just me.*" No joke- the rest of them are probably embarassed of her actions.
Faimily Policy (Score:4, Funny)
A bit greedy are we? (Score:5, Interesting)
Besides, no one has seen fit to defend the implied trademark (though registered? I'm thinking "not), so I doubt that the lawsuit gets anywhere... I suspect a couple of relatives saw Google's IPO numbers and decided to try at cashing in.
I think the case is... (Score:3, Interesting)
the use of G and an 'o' for each page of search results ending with the 'gle'
this may be a legitimate claim, but it is made completely weak by the circumstances (google's IPO namely) and to my knowledge the term "googol" is in most unabridged dictionaries defining a number of value one with one hundred zeros.
after 12 or 13 sides, regular polygons are named by their prefix and the 'gon' suffix. my favorite one? googolgon. transform!
"Kasner's work" my ass (Score:3, Insightful)
Gringo (Score:5, Funny)
I am a gringo! [funwavs.com]
The nation's gone crazy. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm good and sick of this "lawyerocracy" we have here. I'd love to see a "geekocracy".
Geekocracy (Score:5, Funny)
Surely, we must first point out the incalculable advantages of having a geekocracy. Our entire lives will be changed! Think of what will be different:
Re:Geekocracy (Score:5, Funny)
In other words, everyone will have the right to bare arms.
Where's parker Brothers in all this? (Score:5, Interesting)
But seriously, our society is WAY WAY WAY too litigious and opportunistic for anyone's good. On what grounds based in reality does the family of the man who invented the word "Googol" have to the Internet search engine company?
Google even has it's own dictionary entry - two actually, V and N
Re:Where's parker Brothers in all this? (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't doubt that some mathematician will discover a formula or specific method of doing a calculation, will name it after himself, and then try to patent it to prevent universities and schools from teaching it.
There should be a law that prevents this type of thing. "Googol" represents a number, that's all. What's to copyright? Had Google not existed, these people wouldn't have made a profit anyway. They're flat out using the law in a way it WASN'T meant to be used
Original article has more information... (Score:5, Informative)
So no, this doesn't really seem like a case of folks suing google 'cause they are violating the common-law trademark rights of the 4-year old who came up with "googol"...yet.
Kleenex is the answer... (Score:5, Informative)
Second:
-Motley fool web site
There's several rulings about names that ARE trademarked "falling" into public domain, and it's basically, you're a victim of your own success. Since the word Googol was used as a mathematical term, and has no doubt been used in numerous papers, discussions, etc., I have little belief that this suit would succeed, since the term has definitely been in the public domain for a long time.
That being said, it would be nice if the Google folks maybe put up some of that IPO money to help kids learn math, or something....
Cha-ching!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
My initials (Score:3, Funny)
Cha-ching!
Trillian? And wasn't it a "googleplex"? (Score:3, Interesting)
What about other word derived terms? Trillian? Is whoever can prove a DNA link to the person who first uttered "million" , "billion", etc going to sue people for refering to someone as a "millionaire"? Or the governments of the world for issuing budgets in billions and trillions?
I may be wrong, and I suppose I shouldn't trust evil Google to check, but I thought the actual name for the number was a "googleplex"? And why aren't they going after GooglePlex Media [thegoogleplex.com]?
Google is near and dear to a lot of nerds' hearts, mine included. One of my favorite profs in college was a good friend of Brin, and got me started using Google when the whole thing was still beta.
Next to be sued: Billy DeBeck (Score:4, Informative)
It's this kind of frivolous abuse of the courts that keeps real and legitimate cases that might bring about real reforms and improvements from being effective (or even successful.)
That's asinine... (Score:5, Interesting)
From what I gather, Kasner's family has absolutely no business from which consumers could get confused. They're essentially trying to trademark a word merely because a former family member came up with it. That's not the law. Not only will this case get kicked out, the family will be sanctioned for bringing it.
Legal silliness (Score:4, Insightful)
I can't wait to see how these folks' lawyers quantify losses at Google's hands, or how Google's registered trademark causes confusion with the customers of the word "googol."
They could take a page from the Apple/Sagan spat (Score:3, Funny)
We're all dumber for having read this... (Score:3, Interesting)
What I want to know is how poor of mathematician was this guy that his crowning contribution to math was the word 'googol'? Or better yet, how incredibly stupid is the son to think his dad's crowning contribution to math is the word 'googol'?
As an aside, do they think it could possibly be the case that google got its name from other words... like maybe:
"go" -- 'to begin an action or motion' M-W
"ogle" -- 'to look at especially with greedy or interested attention' M-W
Hmmm... 'to start looking with interested attention'? That's just silly... of course they got the word from 'one million gajillion billions'.
Barney Google (Score:4, Informative)
Right?
Baaaaaaaarney Google!
With the goo-goo-googley eyes!
Baaaaaaaarney Google!
Had a wife three times his size!
She sued Barney for divorce--
Now he's living with his horse--
Baaaaaaaarney Google!
With the goo-goo-googley eyes!
Well, it WAS a big hit. A long time ago.
Oh yeah (Score:4, Funny)
Google doesn't want to be "verbed" (Score:4, Informative)
I was talking to a friend who works at Google, and apparently the general consensus is that the company does not want the name of the company to be verbed like Xerox has. Like:
"Just go google 'litigious bastards' and see what comes up!"
I can see where they're coming from, as once a term makes it into the lexicon like there is a considerable dilution to the name. Xerox fought that for years. I'm not entirely sure the same thing could happen in this case- but I bet a lot of people were saying the same thing at Xerox in the early 80's.
Re:Give me a break (Score:3, Funny)
Re:"invented the word..."? (Score:3, Interesting)
Now if catchs on and some large future corporation uses it as their name, my grandchidren will be rich.
Re:"invented the word..."? (Score:3, Funny)
Not a chance. Future corporations will just make sure they hire excellent jipnarks to name their future products.
Re:Interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
There is precedence, though: the whole "Microsoft vs Mike Rowe Software" thing. Granted, in this case Mr Rowe's computer-oriented company name sounded just like the larger and more well-known computer-oriented company's name, and there is a potential for confusion. Certainly, there was no malice intended by Mr Rowe, an
Re:Rediculous (Score:5, Funny)
Well he might if he was still in it.