Google Wants to Trademark the Word "Glass"

Google wants to trademark the word “Glass” for its computer-powered glasses. The company has already successfully trademarked the term “Google Glass”. It now wants to trademark the single word “Glass” featuring a distinctive font to make it unique.

The U.S. trademark office has refused to do so. The grounds are obvious:

1. The suggested trademark is too similar to other existing or pending computer software trademarks (e.g., Microsoft's SmartGlass) that contain the word “glass”. This is a main ground for rejection since it would confuse customers or consumers.
2. Even when “Glass” would have a distinctive format or lettering, it would still remain “merely descriptive.” Generic terms cannot receive trademark protection under federal law. 

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Trademark attorneys for Google, Anne Peck and Katie Krajeck from Cooley LLP, claim that Google’s proposed trademark does not confuse consumers, especially given how much media and policy attention the Glass device has received in the last couple of years.

They also argued that “the frame and display components of the Glass device do not consist of glass at all,” but are made from titanium and plastic. The word “glass” would therefore not “inform potential consumers as to the nature, function or use” of the product Google is selling.

However, Google could skirt the issue by marketing its device as “Google Glass”. But that would limit its possibilities of successfully suing competitors for IP infringement. Google lists Glass in its trademarks list as “Glass™ wearable computing device".