You have to feel for Michael Krantz, the writer on Google’s official blog who was charged with explaining the company’s compulsion to fight the use of the word Google as a verb. It’s a losing battle, obviously, since “Googling” has long since become part of the vernacular. But anyone with a passing knowledge of trademark law knows Google has to defend its trademark or go the way of Xerox and Kleenex into what the legal eagles call “genericity.” But how does a corporation with a market cap of $146 billion tell people, in a nice way, not to devalue its brand? Krantz’s effort is an awkward read—lots of forced jokes, tough stabs at humility and not-so-subtle “the lawyers are making us do this” signals. It’s hard to keep up the little-guy act when you’re not.
—Posted by Brian Morrissey
