In May 2012, Arizonian entrepreneur David Elliott sued Google Inc. to have the Internet advertising and search giant stripped of its eponymous trademark. Elliott claimed that the word Google had become a generic term meaning simply to search on the Web, and like thermos, aspirin, and zipper, it should no longer belong to any one company. As evidence of this, Elliotts lawyer, Richard M. Wirtz, cited the American Dialect Societys decision to declare the verb google the word of the decade for 2000 to 2009.

Elliotts legal action against Google came only after the tech company filedand wona trademark infringement lawsuit against Elliott himself. In the suit, Google claimed that 750 Internet sites registered to Elliott used the term Google illegally. All 750 Web sites, featuring domain names such as googledonaldtrump.com and googlegaycruises.com were forfeited to Google. According to paidContent blogger Jeff John Roberts, Elliott's countersuit won't succeed as long as Google can show that consumers still associate the word with the company.

1. Is Google a product, even though it is free? Explain your answer.