Ask HN: Suggest an attorney? (Google is after us)

Our company was launched in 2003, well before Google Sites. Since we also own the trademark for Bandzoogle, it isn't a stretch to change to Sitezoogle. My lawyer (who can't officially represent me) said that the trademark office looks mainly at the first 4 letters of the name. Google Sites is a trademark, which is very different from Sitezoogle.

The very worst that can happen is that I lose a few thousand dollars defending their contest. It's not like they are going to back down at this point. The next thing they'll send is the domain dispute letter. If I lose, fine, I'll change the name. But just instantly giving in to the big "do no evil" bully seems a little premature.

my point was basically exactly what you've said - except for the second paragraph. I was pointing out that the original word is spelled googol so they copied the bit that is unique to google, I'd say yeah they are done get a new name

I am not a lawyer and am not competent to give legal advice.

That said: I can only assume that you are standing so close to the problem that you can't appreciate the sheer scope of your legal peril. The odds that you have a case are not worth the legal fees to calculate. Lawyers' calculators are not optimized for small numbers. Save your money and change the name. Unless your promotional materials include a fleet of blimps.

If you do hire a trademark lawyer, your money would probably be better spent by having him or her help you with your next name. I'll do my part by suggesting a list of names you should avoid in the future:

  Sitecrosoft
  SighBM
  Sicombinator
  Sapple Computer
  Siteman Sachs
  Sintendo

Though it's a pity about the last one, which would be a great name for a site specializing in off-color Flash games.

Sounds like a major hassle to change names plus it may look shady to your customers.

The lawsuit sounds pretty bogus based on what you've said. Surely Google can't be allowed to have exclusive use of "oogle" just because it sounds like part of their company name. That would be like Microsoft saying no one can have a company ending with "soft".

That said, I'd say this would be expensive and time consuming to fight. May not be worth the effort even though you may be in the right (ethically if not legally).

Is there any chance this could get you into the press? Small company being picked on by enormous corporation. Could be good for you.

I am pretty sure any domain registered with 00gle in the name they contact. When I registered officezilla.com I was contacted by the lawyers for the Godzilla trademark. It's just a way the law firms make more billable hours, writing form letters. That is about all it is. I told the Gozilla people I was not interested in them and not only did they go away they sent me a letter I could use the domain officezilla.com which I figure was just another way to drum up more billable hours.

Deciding on a ballpark range will help you pick out the lawyer you want - usually more established lawyers will charge higher fees but they're not necessarily "better", especially because in your case the types of trademark claims they are probably going to go after you for, trademark dilution and trademark infringement based on confusion are straightforward and could be handled by someone right out of law school. I agree with the above poster that on first look their claim doesn't seem that strong; it doesn't seem as if the average user would confuse "sitezoogle" with a google product but again they can plausibly make that claim. I'm happy to give you advice for free and suggest a couple people that can help you in California if you email mdayal [at] ucdavis.edu.