Google, the internets biggest search engine, finally forayed into the smartphone segment with its latest offering the Nexus One which became available on January 5, 2010 . Google’s Nexus One uses the Android open source mobile operating system and is manufactured by HTC corporation. Google which has been nexus onecriticized for its policies and practices for including the use of others’ IP has finally landed into another controversy, this time dealing with its smartphone the Nexus One. After only a few days of the launch of Nexus One, Isa Hackett, nexus one phonedaughter of the renowned sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick has alleged that Google has lifted the name Nexus straight from the famous novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” authored by her father without any permission as reported in an article.

The novel, which was published in 1968 and later adapted in 1982 into a Hollywood movie, “Blade Runner” which is about a bounty hunter named Rick Deckard who is charged with a mission to eliminate rogue Nexus-6 model androids. Isa Hackett’s has alleged that Google’s OS Android and the Nexus One which also has Android as the OS, is too much of a coincidence and there exists a very obvious connection of the said names to the novel . She further added that the use of these names, according to them is a clear infringement of their intellectual property rights.

Google on the other hand has denied any association of the names to the novel and said that the name Nexus One had been done in a literal sense and Nexus referred to the meeting point of computer and phone. Google further stated that the usage of the word is in a different context and moreover, there exists no trademark by Mr. Dick on the said name.

It would be interesting to note the trademark position in India with regard to the use of characters of novels / story books as trademarks which i will duly follow up in my subsequent posts.