There are valid U.S. trademark registrations for the mark PING PONG covering, uh, table tennis stuff, stating a date of first use of 1902.  The original registrant was Parker Brothers.

History of Ping Pong here.

Cats playing ping pong from here.

UPDATE:  A loyal Trademark Blog reader emails me to advise that (1) the owner of PING PONG trademark enforces its rights; and (2) it backs it up with dictionary definitions defining PING PONG as a trademark for table tennis (a fact I confirmed by looking at my Webster’s.

Etymology Question: Does the term ‘to ping’ as in to send something over a network to test it (and now, to follow up with someone – “If he doesn’t answer by tomorrow, ping him”) derive from PING PONG or from the meaning of ping as in small metallic noise (“the engine pinged”).

In September 2003 I wrote a piece about an infringement case involving use of the VUITTON mark on ‘bondage masks and genital cuffs.’  I then noted: “Now, when someone Googles ‘genital cuffs,’ this site will rank highly.  Great.”

Today, as a result of that piece, someone came here searching  the term “Genital Bondage.”

Hello, sir or madam, can I interest you in a trademark application?

This just in (fx: sound of teletype machine): Reuters is reporting that ‘part’ of Geico’s case against Google has been dismissed.  Which part they don’t say.

UPDATE:  More from Search Engine Watch, indicating that the trial will be halted until an order issues.

From Marketwatch.com:

The company confirmed that U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected auto insurance giant Geico Corp.’s claim that Google should not be allowed to sell ads for rival insurers that appear when Geico is typed into Google’s search engine.

That’s because many of them are the same company.  This Newsweek article and this Ben Edelman piece reveal a great deal about the workings of what might possibly be the largest adware/spyware/pop-up company, Direct Revenue, which apparently owns, controls or is related to somehow, the following names:

  • DirectRevenue.com
  • OfferOptimizer.com
  • MyPCTuneup.com
  • AbetterInternet.com
  • Betterinternet.com
  • BestOffers.bz
  • Twain-Tech.com
  • Mx-targeting.com
  • GrandstreetInteractive.com
  • Localnrd.com
  • Dash.com
  • Blackstonedata.com
  • ThinkingMedia.net
  • Vx2.cc
  • TrueData.org
  • TPS108.org
  • IPInsight.com
  • MSView.cc
  • EDigitalShopping.com
  • CouponDetective.com
  • Cliks.org
  • Bestmerchants.com
  • Stop-popup-ads-now.com