Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, May 10, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, May 10, 2004 |
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eWorld
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Internet Fighting site for site Pratap Ravindran
IF you are a Net neophyte who gets thoroughly rattled by the gazillion hits that Google throws up when you enter, say, `sex' as the search term, you need to try logging on to Soople. If, on the other hand, you're kind of jaded and feel that the Google search result is inadequate, you might consider trying out Booble. "Soople' is apparently early English dialect which means `to soften, make supple' and that is exactly what the site does. According to the Soople Web site, it "softens all the fantastic (advanced) functions Google offers" and enables an "easy and expert search" by those who are not familiar with the functions and syntaxes of Google. Soople, incidentally, is not affiliated to or endorsed by Google in any way. But it's pretty useful all the same... As for Booble, it's most definitely not endorsed by Google. This "adult search engine" was launched on January 20, with the stated intention of parodying Google. Described as a brainchild of an individual who goes by Bob Smart, "a former senior executive from one of America's leading online services who now lives in New York City with his wife, a French fashion model scandalously younger than he," Booble proved an instant hit: It generated so much traffic in the first 24 hours after its launch that its servers went down temporarily. Booble attributes its popularity to the fact that its search engine actually works for adult category content — no viruses, pop-ups and credit card scams — because "each of its 6,000 + listings have been edited and classified by hand, not by the computer algorithms used by the major search engines." Google wasn't amused. Its trademark enforcement team initiated correspondence with Booble on the same day as the launch, stating that it had "recently become aware of your Web site at http://www.booble.com/" and that "this domain name is confusingly similar to the famous Google trademark." "Your Web site is a pornographic Web site. Your Web site improperly duplicates the distinctive and proprietary overall look and feel of Google's Web site, including Google's trade dress and the Google logo. Your use of the Domain Name and corresponding Web site constitutes trademark infringement and dilution of Google's trademarks and unfair competition under federal and state laws... ." "We note that you have given interviews to the press in which you state that you intended booble.com to be a parody. We dispute your assertion that your Web site is a parody. For a work to constitute a parody, it must use some elements of a prior author's composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on the original author's works. Your Web site does not comment on the Google Web site at all; it merely uses the Google look and feel and a similar name for a search engine." The communication required Booble to disable its Web site and discontinue any and all use of the domain name, take steps to transfer the domain name to Google, identify and agree to transfer to Google "any other domain names registered by you that contain the Google or are confusingly similar to the Google marks, permanently refrain from any use of the term Google or any variation thereof that is likely to cause confusion or dilution and immediately and permanently cease and desist from using the Google trade dress." On January 28, Google received a communication from the intellectual property counsel to Booble: "As your communication recognises, our client adopted and uses the booble and booble.com designations to parody the Google Web site. Our client's Web site is in fact a successful parody, which simultaneously brings to mind the original, while also conveying that it is not the original." It pointed out that, "in the present case, consumers are highly unlikely to be confused as to the source of services for several reasons, including the following:
The e-mail went on to note that Booble, by wrapping its "infringement" of Google's trademarks in "this transparent ruse," had shown nothing but its own lack of respect for proper use of the term parody which has a specific legal meaning that does not apply in the present instance. "To be a parody, Booble would need to actually satirise or poke fun of Google. Other than taking some obvious liberties with our logo to enhance its appeal to the puerile and the press, there is no aspect of Booble that could in any way be seen as a parody of www.google.com. Stripped of this transparent, legal manoeuvre, the site is revealed for nothing more than a commercial venture striving to compete with Google by grabbing our assets and claiming them as its own." "Furthermore, your client's use of our trademarks and trade dress constitutes tarnishment of Google's marks. In other words, your client has borrowed our dress and is parading around in public pretending to be Google while doing things polite search sites prefer to engage in more discreetly. Yes, it is possible to search for adult content using the Google search engine, but Google does not have a "longstanding association with pornographic terms and material" as you assert. As a search engine, Google provides links to all of the Web's content. However, we also offer SafeSearch, filtering for those users that choose not to have adult content included in their search results. Google's reputation would therefore be harmed by association with your client's site, which includes a graphic that mimics our logo, but in a way that suggests Google is the star of a grossly inappropriate halftime show during a nationally telecast sporting event. And since Booble sells pornographic videos, DVDs and sex toys and offers results that are limited to adult content, the association with our logo clearly harms Google's reputation as a site that can be enjoyed in the company of children and those less adventurous souls among us." The Google communication noted indignantly: "Your client treats us in this manner and then you suggest we have no right to object? And to add insult to injury you accuse us in the press of lacking a sense of humour? Sir, have you never used Google's Mentalplex(TM) technology? (http://www.google.com/mentalplex/) Have you never been acquainted with the search breakthrough that is PigeonRank(TM)? (http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html) Perhaps it is difficult to locate one's inner child when constantly surrounded by content that is intended only for adults... ." It concluded that Google was taking the matter seriously and that it would not be "intimidated by the taunts of those who wish to remain anonymous while tying their tawdry wares to our good name." "We look forward to resolving this quickly and to tucking the Booble name back into the softly padded embrace of obscurity." "Bob" promptly denied that he had ever grabbed Google's "assets," pointing out that the headquarters of Google was located 3,000 miles away — well out of reach. He further declined to commission another expensive legal response to the search leader, saying: "We stand by our response to Google's demands three weeks ago. The law recognises that intelligent people can disagree on what's funny." He added that Booble was "just poking fun" and that he'd like to thank Google "for unselfishly helping to keep our parody site in the news."
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