Facebook is trying to trademark 'face'
Facebook, which has gone after sites with the word "book" in their names, is also trying to trademark the word "face," according to court documents.But the social networking site has met with a familiar foe. As TechCrunch first reported, Aaron Greenspan has asked for an extension of time to file an opposition to Facebook's attempt. Greenspan is the president and CEO of Think Computer, the developer of a mobile payments app called FaceCash."I'd bet against 'face' being awarded to Facebook," said Henry Sneath, a patent and trademark lawyer based in Pittsburgh. "You cannot overtake the use of a generic word people use in everyday speech."Greenspan, a former Harvard classmate of Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, claimed he had a hand in developing the social networking giant. The case was settled last year.In an interview with CNNMoney.com, Greenspan said the two extensions he filed now give him until September 22 to oppose the "face" trademark attempt. The original deadline was June 23."If you search the patent database, there are thousands of marks that contain the word 'face,'" Greenspan said. "I understand where Facebook is coming from, but this move has big implications for my company and for others."Greenspan said he hasn't yet decided whether he will file a formal opposition, but he wanted extra time because "tech is a very fast-paced industry. You never know what will develop during the additional time."Court documents show Greenspan has a long history of taking action to protect his trademarks, so Facebook could have a tough battle ahead.Facebook's separate fight over "book," on the other hand, has been more of a David vs. Goliath saga.As CNNMoney reported Thursday, Facebook is suing start-up site Teachbook.com -- which claims it is merely a teacher's community. The social networking giant also forced the travel site PlaceBook to change its name to TripTrace earlier this month.In the case of Teachbook, Facebook would have to prove the site caused "a likelihood of confusion," said Sneath, the trademark lawyer. That's a steep burden, he said, but Facebook could succeed."Honestly, to most people [Facebook's claims] wouldn't make a big difference," Greenspan said. "Facebook is enforcing their rights, but maybe some they don't have."
1 million Gmail calls on first day
Google Wave and Google Buzz may have had troubles attracting usage, but the new ability to place calls from Gmail appears to have caught on quickly."Over 1,000,000 calls placed from Gmail in just 24 hours!" Google tweeted Thursday, evidently pleased with the number.For comparison, there are somewhat more than 300 million people in the United States. If the average person makes 10 calls per day--research in 2008 put the number at 208 calls per month--that means about one out of every 3,000 calls in the U.S. went through the service on its first day.The service lets Gmail users make free calls to U.S. and Canada and inexpensive calls to phones in other countries. It uses Gmail as an interface and optionally can integrate with Google Voice to receive calls as well.To be sure, a lot of calls are placed daily in the United States, where the new Gmail feature was activated initially. But the figure indicates that a sizable number of the millions of Gmail users at least gave it a whirl even if they didn't decide it was time to stop paying for their other phones.I had two successes with the service the day it launched, both unplanned. First, somebody called my mobile phone and my computer "rang" as well. I had the pleasure of conducting an interview via headphones and my computer's microphone rather than trying to squeeze my mobile phone between my shoulder and ear for an hour.I've done plenty of interviews over Skype, but this time the call came in from the phone system without my having to get somebody to sign up for Skype or for me to pay for a SkypeIn phone number.Second, I came back to my desk to see a missed call announced on my Gmail screen. I clicked the phone number to call back and had a quick chat through my computer. Nothing fancy, but no mobile phone minutes were consumed in this process, and I didn't have to tell anybody anything except my Google Voice phone number.Given the vast number of phone calls made daily, I'm reluctant to draw any grand conclusions. But the fact is that I used the service twice yesterday without actively seeking to do so (granted, I already signed up for Google Voice and installed the required chat plug-in).That indicates to me that it's a matter those in the voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) realm or more traditional telephony will need to take seriously.
