Federal Court Dismisses Rosetta's Google Trademark Suit

A federal court in Virginia has dismissed Rosetta Stone's trademark infringement lawsuit against Google (NASD: GOOG), which had sought to keep the Silicon Valley technology giant from selling the company's trademarks or other similar terms as part of its AdWords advertising program.

Rosetta Stone, which sells language learning software and online services, said that the decision from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia will contribute to "consumer confusion" by allowing counterfeiters to sell "pirated copies of trademarked products to unsuspecting American consumers."

"We are deeply disappointed that Rosetta Stone was not given an opportunity to present at a public trial the facts underlying Google's practices and the motivation that led Google to adopt its current trademark policies," said Tom Adams, the president and CEO of Rosetta Stone.

The company said that it is considering an appeal.  

Nithyananda scandal: Actress Ranjitha serves notices on Google, YouTube

Bangalore: Actress Ranjitha, on Thursday, termed the video clips telecast by television channels purportedly showing the tainted self-styled godman Paramahamsa Nithyananda engaging in acts of physical intimacy as “malicious.”
“Our client dissociates herself from the said video which has caused danger to her life, limb and property,” a Delhi-based law firm representing Ranjitha said, adding, “our client strongly objects to being referred to as one of the persons in the video.”
In her first comments made to the media after being embroiled in the alleged sex scandal, the actress said she had issued notices to search engine Google and video-sharing website YouTube, through the law firm, demanding the controversial clippings be removed with in 72 hours, ending 5 pm on Sunday.
The legal firm, PM Law Chambers (PMLC), said in a statement made to the press that it would take “appropriate action” against the Google and YouTube if the defamatory clippings were not
removed.
The law firm stated that several “persons have access to the illegally created clips, snippets of video, or are uploading or downloading the same on worldwide web, which is an offence in itself.”
When contacted, a senior official with Google’s global communications and public affairs wing in Bangalore, said he was unaware of the legal notice, and needed to check it with the Internet giant’s law department.
“The authenticity and originality of the alleged person featuring in the video taken clandestinely has to stand the test of admissibility before being treated as evidence in the Courts of Law,” PMLC said.
“The video clips, which clearly amount to gross violation of various laws of India, have malicious, diabolical and destructive intent, and are clearly aimed at bringing harm to the actress,” it said.
Those who were airing and publishing the video clips were doing so for commercial interests, it claimed, adding the actress had “authorised” the firm to initiate legal action against such persons.
Ranjitha, a “hard working, dedicated woman with high morals and has never been accused of any misdemeanor or wrong in the past 20 years,” believed that there was a conspiracy against her, by “vested interests”, who were behind the circulation of the “highly offensive videos.”
The statement requested the media to “respect her privacy, and her need to spend time with her family and recover and recoup” following the controversy.
It added that Ranjitha did not wish to discuss “this incident any further with the media and will stay away from her public life to spend time with her family to recover from this traumatic
allegation.”
The controversy over alleged sleazy activities of Nithyananda broke out on March 2 after TV channels aired the purported video footage showing the actress in intimate positions with him.
Tamil Nadu police registered various cases including rape against Nithyananda before transferring them to Karnataka where his ashram is headquartered at Bidadi, about 35 km from
Bangalore.
He was arrested from Solan in Himachal Pradesh on April 21 in a joint operation by Karnataka police and their counterparts in the hilly state.
Earlier, Nithyananda had stated that he was unwell and in samadhi when the video was shot. Lenin Karuppan, formerly a disciple of the swami, had claimed that he had arranged for the secret filming of the swami to expose him.

Apple enters mobile search big time

If it seemed Apple was encroaching Google’s business with its iAd platform, then the acquisition of mobile search company Siri is a transgression of note!

$200 million blown in the wind

Though this iPhone app company’s flagship product has only been downloaded around 250,000 times, various technology publications are putting the acquisition price at north of $200 million. With investors having put $24 million into the organization, the acquisition represents an 800 per cent return, which is quite healthy for the investors.

But it seems Apple has significantly overbid for this company. The theory for this price tag is two-fold: some believe Apple feared Google would swoop in and snatch Siri the same way Google snatched Admob, while other argue if you look at the purchase as a talent and technology acquisition as opposed to an iPhone app acquisition, $200 million is well worth it for entry in the mobile search market.

Smartphones, advertising, search

This Siri acquisition marks the third major market the former BFFs Apple and Google will be competing with each other in, namely smartphones, advertising and search.

Where Google Android is a competitor to iPhone OS, and Apple’s iAd is an arrow at Google’s AdWords and AdSense, this acquisition of a company whose product is a kind of virtual assistant is a slight play on the typical mobile archetype. In this regard, Google has other platforms like Aardvark to compete with this Apple move, but if anything, this move is definitely a sign that Apple no longer treats Google territory as precious ground that should not be tread on.

What is likely, as the recent HP acquisition of Palm shows, is that the company that wins big in the three industries Apple and Google are competing in will likely be among the largest in the world, making the obscene profits mobile advertising, search and mobile technology leaders tend to. Mobile search company Siri is merely a piece in a very interesting puzzle.