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Google locked in battle with US authorities over 'Glass' trademark

By Angela Haggerty, Reporter

April 5, 2014 | 2 min read

Google is locked in a battle with the US Patent and Trademark Office over the registration of ‘Glass’ as a trademark, it has emerged.

Battle: Google is trying to trademark 'Glass'

While the company has already secured the Google Glass trademark, its application for the shorter Glass reference is proving more problematic after a rejection from US authorities.

It emerged in the Wall Street Journal this week that Google’s application, submitted last year, failed to convince the US trademark office, prompting the tech giant to respond with a 1,928 page letter arguing its case – although 1,900 pages reportedly contained news articles about Google Glass.

The trademark examiner who reviewed the application – which sought specifically to trademark Glass when displayed with the same futuristic font used in Google’s marketing campaign - concluded that on two main grounds it could not proceed.

Firstly, it was deemed there was a risk of consumer confusion because the application was too similar to other existing or pending computer software trademarks using the word glass, and secondly because it was “merely descriptive”, despite its specific formatting.

Google has invested heavily into its Google Glass product, which has been undergoing an extensive trial period before becoming available to the public.

It has hit a number of obstacles, from trademark rights to legal concerns over privacy, and practical worries from authorities over driving while wearing the device.

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