Bing! Information Design sues Microsoft
When Microsoft announced its new search engine was to called Bing, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in thinking it was a strange choice of name. However, it turns out Microsoft wasn’t the first company to think of using the name Bing. And it’s now being sued by Bing! Information Design.
Microsoft unveiled Bing in June of this year. It was a new search engine designed to replace the Microsoft’s efforts of old and better compete with the all-conquering Google. And things have been going well, with market share increases and good reviews of the results Bing provides.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, there is a snag with the name, with Bing! Information Design having filed a lawsuit in the St. Louis City Circuit Court this week. Bing! is a small graphics and design company, but it maintains its right to exclusive use of the Bing name, and it won’t let the tech giant off lightly.
According to Ars Technica, Bing! Information Design is alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition over Microsoft’s use of the Bing name. The company has used the Bing! name since 2000 and applied to trademark Bing! on May 26 this year. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office initially refused the application and Bing! now has a few months to provide more evidence of its claim to the name.
Microsoft actually beat Bing! to the punch, applying to patent Bing, without the exclamation mark, on March 2.
The lawsuit claims that Microsoft’s use of the Bing name dilutes the trademark and is likely to cause confusion in terms of the relationship between the two companies.
Microsoft has responded with a statement saying:
We believe this suit to be without merit and we do not believe there is any confusion in the marketplace with regard to the complainant’s offerings and Microsoft’s Bing. We have not been served with a complaint, but are aware of the suit based on media reports. We respect trademarks and other people’s intellectual property, and look forward to the next steps in the judicial process.
I can’t see this sticking because a search engine and a design firm are surely different enough to allow both to co-exist with the same name. And in fact the name is slightly different thanks to the use of an exclamation mark by the design firm.
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December 20th, 2009
Having a company with nearly the same name as a worldwide search engine, could only help the company.
Microsoft could likely end up buying the company to quiet them or just settle.