Google Gets Trademark Reprieve In Sweden Over Definition Of ‘Ungoogleable’

“Ungoogleable” won’t become an official word in Sweden … at least, not this year.

As Sveriges Radio reports (found via The Verge), the Language Council of Sweden won’t be adding ogooglebar, which translates to “ungoogleable,” to its official list of new words for 2012.

The Council’s planned definition for the word, based on common use there, was something “that can not be found on the Web using a search engine.” But Google asked for an edit; it wanted the word to only refer to something that can’t be found using Google.

Rather than change its definition, the Council decided to drop the word altogether from its list. There’s nothing stopping it from trying again next year, of course. And, there’s nothing stopping Swedes from continuing to use the word in common speech.

Trademark law, as I understand it, requires companies to defend their marks or risk losing them. That’s clearly what Google is doing, just as it’s done before.

The company did offer this statement on the matter in Sweden:

While Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademarks, we are pleased that users connect the Google name with great search results.