Google Raises Legal Action Against The Swedish Language Council
Google has found itself in a bit of a legal scuffle, albeit a rather silly one, with Europe's Swedish Language Council.
According to a post on their site by director Ann Cederberg, the Swedish Language Council Språkrådet has actually removed a word from its official list after Google raised a legal complaint. The term in question is ogooglebar, which translates to ungoogleable. The word was one of Sweden's new words for 2012 as determined by the Language Council.
According to the Swedish paper The Local, ogooglebar is defined as something that "you can't find on the web with the use of a search engine."
However, Google raised a concern that actually the term "Google" is a registered trademark. Google contacted the Language Council to ask that the definition be amended to make it clear that Google is trademarked, and that the definition should refer to Google specifically, and not search engines in general.
After a bit of back and forth, the Language Council decided to remove the word altogether. Cederberg also made it clear that the Council is not entirely happy with the proceedings.
In response, a Google spokesperson stated that, "While Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademark, we are pleased that users connect the Google name with great search results."
It's important to note that Google's legal action never ended up going to court, although it can be assumed that the Language Council realized what sort of resources they would be going up against with such a large company. In all likelihood, they probably figured that such a huge fight was probably not worth such a silly word.
So for any Swedish language enthusiasts out there, be sure to remember that ogooglebar is no longer considered an officially sanctioned word, whatever that may entail.