Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Re: Google Brand and permissions

Trademarks (or service marks) are all about the possibility of confusing the customer about the source of the goods/services. By way of example, if I call my business Sam's BMW Repair, there is a strong possibility that people will get the impression that my business is affiliated with BMW or at least certified by them as an official repair garage. That would be a problem. On the other hand, if I ran a business called Sam's Auto Repair and state We Repair BMWs on the sign, I would not be causing any confusion and so the use would be okay. You have to ask yourself whether the way you are advertising your business will make Google feel threatened that the consumer will think there is an affiliation. Without having read the Google permissions, I think they are probably saying that if you use the word Google in an accepted manner, you should indicate that Google is a protected service mark that doesn't belong to you. That is what is typically done.