[Lexicog] Re: McJob

[David Frank]

It is perfectly legitimate for Google to get its lawyers involved in protecting its name. This is a trademark issue. I don't know how things are done in Germany, but in the U.S., when a trademark holder thinks someone else is using their trademark improperly, they would get their lawyers to approach the offending party and request that they correct the misuse. If that doesn't work, they would go to court. There are precedents for this. I remember reading an article in Verbatim on this subject years ago. Trademark owners of brand names like Coke and Kleenex fight very hard to keep control over their names. If they fail to exercise tight control, then the names can end up in the public domain. They definitely do not see it in their best interest to let their trademarked names become synonymous with "soft drink," "tissue" or "search engine."

On the other hand, it seem ridiculous to me for McDonalds to turn to Parliament to get a dictionary to change its definition of McJob. I have never heard of interest groups lobbying the government to get a dictionary definition changed, not that that means it couldn't have happened. If McDonalds thinks they hold the trademark for anything that begins with "Mc," then they can take their case to a court that deals with trademarks, but I don't think they have much of a case.

I remember a news segment about McDonalds on the American television program 60 Minutes several years ago. The reporters interviewed a family in Scotland named McDonald who was being sued by the hamburger makers for trademark infringement. I know this sounds crazy, but there is more to the story than I can remember, so don't quote me unless you can check it out.

Margaret, I thought at first you were going to say that Dan Quayle tried to pass a law changing the spelling of "potato." (There's a story behind that that you may not be familiar with.)

-- David Frank
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