Is the Google Phone, currently known as 'Nexus One' an unauthorised replicant?
Philip K. Dick's daughter certainly thinks so, with the Blade Runner author's estate having not been contacted or consulted over the use of the name 'Nexus One' – which Google seems to have lifted directly from Dick's sci-fi masterpiece Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Google's new smartphone device is called Nexus One in at least two government filings, although the name is far from set in stone and the company is likely to change it before the phone gets a commercial release later in 2010.
Dick's book features a bounty hunter asked to track down a number of rogue Nexus-6 cyborgs.
Out of basic courtesy, if nothing else, one would have expected Google to have discussed the use of the 'Nexus One' name with the author's estate.
Shock and dismay
The author's daughter Isa Dick Hackett, said she was "shocked and dismayed" and that the estate "were never consulted, no requests were made, and we didn't grant any sort of permissions.
"In my mind, there is a very obvious connection to my father's novel…My father was a big fan of technology," she added. "It's certainly something we would have been happy to discuss and interested in exploring. They only needed to reach out."
Google filed this application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the name "Nexus One" for use with a phone.
Via NYT
Your comments (9) Click to add a new comment
mobius
December 18th 2009
9. @fellwalker actually the dictionaries would be the ones being sued since by definition they record words that others have used first (dictionaries aren't the originators of words). ;)
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fellwalker
December 18th 2009
8. Utterly ridiculous. It's not even newsworthy, except in a "how stupid some people are" way. It will be some clever lawyer thinking he can make a fast buck. Nexus with a number 6 is very different from Nexus with the word One! She should have damages awarded against her to stop other people doing stupid things like this.
If I could get a payoff for every word I've ever written being re-used I would be a wealthy man. How about the Oxofrd English DIctionary or CHambers suing becasue they have written the word down earlier?
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mobius
December 18th 2009
7. @silverfox1948 It's neither a patent (it's not an idea or invention) nor a copyright (it's not a new word). It's an unregistered trademark at best. They'd have to do a lot of work to demonstrate they had any rights in the first place, never mind ones to defend.
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ohplese
December 17th 2009
6. She better be quick. A designer in Hawaii patented a design of an ancient Hawaiian mask and now when the natives make a warrior mask they are required to pay a royalty. Just another example of a design made by someone and the rights of which are stolen by someone else.
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rcroeder
December 17th 2009
5. Let see, he wrote a book called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". Hmmm Google has a OS called Android. A phone of Motorola called Droid. Now a phone called Nexus One? Sounds like large amount of dollar signs for the estate. I hope she wins.
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silverfox1948
December 17th 2009
4. For patents (and presumably copyrights) to remain valid, they MUST be defended if it is believed there is a possible infringement. If she did not do this, her estate might lose all rights and they would be unprotectable in the future. She should be commended for protecting that which her father worked so hard to achieve.
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innmorris
December 17th 2009
3. She is just following protocol where the object is to sue large corporations for just enough money that it is cheaper to pay off the plaintiff and avoid bad press...even if the suit has no basis. At the same time, it is a great way to get press on the book and try to gain new readership to increase your royality revenue.
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watzupdok
December 17th 2009
2. What?
I really don't understand this one. Why Philip K. ****'s daughter is trying to pull out this stunt? The word nexus was originated somewhere in the 17th century. Maybe the estate of the guy who first use it should be "consulted" by the Philip K. ****'s estate to see if they can be "grant a permission" to continue to use the word in all future edition of the book.
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optimaximal
December 16th 2009
1. Seriously? This reeks of trademark troll behaviour...
Maybe if they had actively called it a Nexus-6 (or even the Google Replicant - running Android!) then yes, there's a case in there somewhere, but can you realistically make a trademark claim on a word, let alone one that has had many many other uses before its passing mention in Blade Runner.
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