US Trademark Office Denies Google Nexus One Trademark Application

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a refusal on Google's Nexus One application.

According to nexus-one.co.uk Google filed an application for the trademark back on 10th December 2009 for use in connection with mobile phones.

The Trademark Office recently issued a notice of refusal:

SECTION 2(d) REFUSAL – LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION

Registration of the applied-for mark is refused because of a likelihood of confusion with the mark in U.S. Registration No. 3554195.

"The refusal has been issued on the grounds that the mark could conflict with an existing NEXUS trademark (3554195) granted on December 30, 2008 to Integra Telecom under the same class with a description which includes the provision of telecommunication services and the transmission of voice and data."

In this case, the following factors are the most relevant: similarity of the marks, similarity of the goods and/or services, and similarity of trade channels of the goods and/or services.

The goods and/or services of the parties need not be identical or directly competitive to find a likelihood of confusion.

The applied-for mark encompasses the registered mark. Likelihood of confusion is often found where the entirety of one mark is incorporated within another.

Google will likely contest this refusal shortly.

Read More [via Daring Fireball]