Ask HN: Google is using our company's name, what can we do?

4 points·lukeqsee··5 comments

I run Stadia Maps (stadiamaps.com). Google just launched Google Stadia, their streaming service.

Obviously the products don't directly compete (video streaming vs online maps), but Google most certainly competes against us with Google Maps API. Additionally, this product launch will definitely affect things like SEO and name recognition.

Is there anything we can do?

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I'm pretty sure that Google have paid lawyer to check if the trademark was free before using it. If they are using it, they are confident about any attacks on their use. Good luck.

That Google also does maps doesn't mean much, as long as they don't use that name for mapping products. Unless your trademark is registered to cover the gaming field too, probably little you can do. But for details, ask a lawyer.

Do you own the trademark? I would recommend you talk to a trademark lawyer asap.

We don't have the trademark, unfortunately, but we can demonstrate using the mark for months before Google did.

I haven't looked, but I am fairly certain that Google has trademarked "Stadia" for the gaming space. You could try trademarking "Stadia" for the mapping space, but that wouldn't prevent Google from using "Stadia" in gaming.

If you have several hundred dollars you're willing to place on a long shot bet, you could talk to a trademark lawyer.

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