The latest speculation created by Android is
not on some new launch or feature but the name itself. According to Forbes, a software developer named Erich Specht who also happens to be an ISP is suing the search giant for using the name Android. Not only is Specht suing Google, he’s also intent on doing the same with 46 other companies over the use of the name. He runs a company called Android Data Corp. He’s suing the companies for a whopping $94 million.
The list includes major U.S. firms like Motorola ( MOT – news – people ), Qualcomm ( QCOM – news – people ), Sprint Nextel ( S – news – people ), T-Mobile and Texas Instruments ( TXN – news – people ), and foreign companies such as China Mobile ( CHL – news – people ), Samsung, Telefonica ( TEF – news – people ), Toshiba ( TOSBF.PK – news – people ) and Vodafone ( VOD – news – people ).
Specht claimes that the name belonged to his 10 year old company and he has legaly registeref the name . It’s been a back and forth battle between the two companies as Google claims that Specht’s company was inactive and apparently the company was dissolved leaving the name up for grabs. However the PTO had refused Google’s proposed Android mark because the similarity with Specht’s company’s name.
Specht intends to file an injunction that will state that all Google Android-branded products to be removed from the market and repackaged using another name. Luckily for Google there aren’t to many handsets save the G1 out there.
Murphy portrays Specht as the David to Google’s Goliath. “[Specht] put a lot of thought into that name, Android,” says Murphy. “He felt, ‘Google is taking this away from me.’ ” Specht didn’t take action until this month because, Murphy alleges, he only recently realized the search giant was infringing on his trademark. “He had heard about the Android phone, but thought, ‘That’s a mobile device,’ ” says Murphy. “As soon as he learned it was software, he stepped up, and we filed as fast as we could.”
To know more about android go here – http://www.android.com/
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