Elliott v. Google, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
860 F.3d 1151 (2017)

- Written by Sarah Holley, JD
Facts
Chris Gillespie registered over 700 domain names that included the word “google.” Google, Inc. (defendant) objected to these registrations and filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum on the ground that there was a likelihood of confusion with the Google trademark and, further, that the domain names had been registered in bad faith. The National Arbitration Forum agreed and transferred the domain names in question to Google. Thereafter, Elliott and Gillespie (collectively, Elliott) (plaintiffs) filed suit for the cancellation of the Google trademark, arguing that the word “google” was primarily understood as a generic term used to describe the act of internet searching. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Google maintained that verb use did not automatically constitute generic use and that Elliott had failed to create a triable issue of fact as to whether the Google trademark was generic. The district court agreed and granted summary judgment in its favor. Elliott appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Tallman, J.)
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