From the ads i've seen lately I can see that some take too serious this line: "we do not allow advertisers to use "the Brain" in their Google AdWords ads" |
I did a quick search of USPTO and found this trademark: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=mmu301.2.27
It's dead though. I can't find any live trademarks on "The Brain" in the US.
In the UK however there are four (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text?detailsrequested=C&searchtext=The+Brain&typeofsearch=E&classselected=99&crosssearch=Y&statusselected=A). The last two apply to technology. My guess is you'd probably have to speak to Google about these so that Google can verify that you aren't breaking any of these trademarks (from a quick glance, I can't see that you are).
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I did a search similar to Martin's. There is a live US TM for "the brain." It's from the same company that held the dead one.
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=cmo3rk.2.48 |
> My guess is you'd probably have to speak to Google
Yes, I used this "grant an exception" box and will now see when they get back...
> I did a search similar to Martin's. There is a live US TM for > "the brain." It's from the same company that held the dead > one.
It's weird, law allows you to trademark the + a normal word? |
I'm not a lawyer, but I think you can trademark almost anything, for specific uses to protect your product against confusion. So this trademark applies to the goods & services "automatic mixing valves; hot water heater recirculation control systems comprising circulators and electronic controls; electronically controlled mixing systems for hot water heaters." So no one else can market a product in that category as "the Brain." If someone wanted to create a board game called "the Brain," they would be ok.
That is my very simple understanding of trademark law. I could be wrong. |
TheBrain Technologies Corporation has tradmarked "The Brain" in France too |
Better still, the law allows you to trademark a normal word by itself – hello Apple.
As for The Brain, this company and its software have been around for a fair while – maybe related? http://www.thebrain.com/ |
> So this trademark applies to the goods & > services "automatic mixing valves
I wonder how useful Google's automated trademark checker is in this case, as it doesn't understand the ad/ trademark context to check if there's an actual match. It's almost like it's taking trademark law and then creating a new version of it that's even more restrictive. Can't they just use "safe harbor" for user generated content – as host, remove only when you're being made aware of it by the other party? |
Well, in my experience, if you contact Google AdSense support, they will respond. So give it a try. Also, try the obvious – replace "the brian" with "your brian" – it should work in the ad you showed us... |
I was thinking maybe it was cause of Pinky & The Brain... I'd be amazed if they didn't grant your exception though. I'm always running up against that sort of thing on common words, and I've never had one refused yet. |