Recently, Google has been sued by a company named Gemini Data over its newly launched AI service, "Gemini." Gemini Data, a provider of enterprise-level AI platforms, claims that Google used their registered trademark without proper authorization.
The sequence of events is as follows: Google changed the name of its generative AI service from "Bard" to "Gemini" in February 2023, and had already launched the Gemini model series by December 2023. However, it appears that Google did not pay attention to the existing use of the name "Gemini" within the industry.
According to the lawsuit filed by Gemini Data in the federal court in San Francisco, as a large corporation, Google should have conducted a trademark search before renaming, but it chose to ignore Gemini Data's exclusive rights to the "GEMINI" brand.
The lawsuit also points out that Google attempted to register the trademark "Gemini" in September 2023, but was temporarily rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in May 2024 due to its similarity with multiple other registered trademarks.
Furthermore, the lawsuit mentions that after learning of the trademark rejection, Google tried to contact Gemini Data anonymously in an attempt to acquire the rights to the "GEMINI" brand. Gemini Data eventually suspected that the "anonymous" contact was acting on behalf of Google, leading to the cessation of communication.
Interestingly, Gemini Data's lawsuit also mentions that Google's Gemini chatbot seems to be aware of this trademark conflict. When asked if it knew it was infringing on Gemini Data's trademark, it responded, "Yes, this is a developing situation." This response is seen as a display of Google's confidence, but it also highlights the ongoing legal dispute between the parties.
In fact, Google is not the only tech company to have sparked controversy over trademark usage. Meta, after renaming itself "Meta," also reached a settlement with Metacapital Management to resolve related trademark litigation.
Key Points:
🌟 Google is being sued by Gemini Data for using the "Gemini" trademark, accused of trademark infringement.
🔍 Google's trademark application was rejected due to its similarity with other trademarks.
🤖 Google's Gemini chatbot acknowledges infringing the trademark, reflecting the ongoing legal dispute.