Google has been slapped with a trademark infringement lawsuit by ISYS, which claims the "Chromebook" term will confuse consumers when ISYS's Xi3 ChromiumPC launches.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is
facing another lawsuit over its operating system, but it isn't for its Android
mobile platform.
Intellectual
property manager ISYS Technologies sued Google because it claims the
search-engine giant's Chrome operating system infringes on trademarks
for its Xi3 ChromiumPC
Modular Computer.
ISYS wants to stop Google's retail
partners Amazon.com and Best Buy from selling Chromebooks made by Samsung and
Acer, the company said in a statement obtained by
Bloomberg.
ISYS owns Xi3
Corp., a unit that built the ChromiumPC based on Google's Chromium open-source
operating system. The machine, which
resembles a cross between a
toaster and a cheese grater, is a dual-core computer capable of running
Windows, Linux and other open-source operating systems.
ISYS said it
holds patents for the ChromiumPC and filed a trademark registration for the
device with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in June 2010.
Google, which
declined to comment on the lawsuit, has opposed the granting of the trademark,
according to ISYS.
Chrome
OS-based notebooks are
expected
to go on sale June 15, providing an alternative to Windows and Mac machines
running locally based applications.
Samsung is selling
a
3G
Series 5 Chromebook for $499 and a WiFi-only version for $429. Acer is
offering its WiFi-only Chromebook for $349.
Google
believes most people are moving toward Web applications, and Google is using Chrome to
provide a new Web platform upon which it can deliver its search, Web services
and ads.
Xi3 expects to
launch its ChromiumPC July 4, with pricing announced at that time.
"Although
we've been promoting, discussing and working on modular computers for some
time, we feel the market is now ready for a desktop computer with a cloud-based
operating system like the one offered by Google," Jason A. Sullivan,
president and CEO of Xi3, said May 20 in a statement.
Lawsuits are
becoming de rigueur for Google as it expands to new markets online. The company
is facing a serious threat from Oracle, which
claims Google's Android OS violates patents and copyrights related to its
Java platform.
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