App Maker Spy Phone’s Trademark Claims Against Google Fail

• Holding: Federal district court dismisses trademark claims against Google from an app maker.
• Takeaway: Complaints about violating spyware policy can’t give rise to trademark claims.

An app maker can’t pursue trademark infringement claims against Google because the Internet giant didn’t respond to its complaints about other app makers selling spyware, a magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled March 21 (Spy Phone Labs LLC v. Google Inc., N.D. Cal., 15-CV-03756-PSG, 3/21/16).

App maker Spy Phone Labs LLC of Wayne, N.J., had filed repeated complaints that rival app makers were violating Google’s ...