One would think that a term like “Android” would be generic enough to avoid being taken to court. Apparently not, and now Google will have to defend the name over a trademark infringement claim. The issue at hand was the granting of a trademark for the “Android Data Corporation” issued seven years ago. The company's owner, Erich Specht claims that Google's use of the term Android has been detrimental to his goals and (of course) demands monetary compensation along with a name change for the OS.

Google was denied a trademark for this very reason, which may have helped bring the situation to light. It does seem unlikely that Google would be willing to adopt a name change this late in the game – especially when their concentration along with other members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) has been in getting “Android” into the hands of as many people as possible.