The Speculist

"Intellectual" Property

Here are a couple of headlines that I found dangerously close to each other:

Google Slaps Booble

Search engine giant Google has demanded that newly launched adult search site Booble take down its Web site, a Booble spokesman said Thursday.

Lindows Lose To Windows In Dutch Courts

Companies that resell Lindows, the Linux operating system, in the Netherlands have eight days to stop, since Windows successfully won a ruling in an Amsterdam court. The alternative system is said to be "profiting from the success of Windows".

It would be easy to dismiss one of these cases as trivial, but they both raise serious issues. Google claims that "Booble" is cashing in on their name and look and feel in order to peddle smut. Booble claims that their site is a parody. Google claims that they are a competitor, another search engine. So the questions is: can company A go into the same business as company B while parodying the look and feel of company A?

My gut answer is "why not?" Nobody would ever confuse Google with Booble. So I don't see how Google is losing anything in the deal. If it's unfair that Booble is cashing in on a market that Google created while using a similar name, then why can't Yahoo! sue Google on the same grounds?

I'm not so sure about Windows and Lindows. Maybe in Europe, there really is some chance that the two could be confused. It's also unclear from the article how much Lindows operates like Windows, or whether the Dutch have any other option for getting Linux.

If I were a suspicious person, I would wonder whether Microsoft is less concerned about protecting their intellectual assets, and more concerned about finding novel ways to destroy competitors without having to beat them in the marketplace.