07 January 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Google could face legal battle over Nexus One name

Google's new superphone, the Nexus One, is threatening to land the Mountain View giant in legal trouble already, with the family of sci-fi writer Philip K Dick claiming that the product's name has been lifted from his most famous book.

Sky News reports that Google has been asked to stop using the name Nexus One for its new superphone, which was launched earlier this week, due to its similarity to the Nexus 6 cyborgs in Philip K Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

The novel was published in 1968 and later adapted into the cult film Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford.

The late author's daughter, Isa Dick Hackett, told the Wall Street Journal that the family has written to Google asking that they stop using the name. She stated: "We feel this is a clear infringement of our intellectual-property rights.

"Our legal team is dealing head on with this."

Google is refusing to comment on the case, but earlier this week it confirmed that its use of the Nexus name bears no relation to Mr Dick's work, explaining that it is using the word in its original meaning - as a place where things converge. However, the author's family has also pointed to the fact that Google's Nexus One was designed to run with the company's Android operating system as a clear association with the book's title.

The past week has been littered with legal battles for the search giant, from losing its first domain name case in five years to a court appeal against Google's Suggest feature.

However, with the publicity surrounding its Nexus One launch, and its Chrome browser becoming ever more popular, it seems Google's reputation is a long way from being tarnished just yet.

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