Google's eponymous search engine has become a sanctioned part of the English language, with "google" - small "g" - earning an entry among the 165,000 or so terms in the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.

The definition: "to use the Google search engine to obtain information ... on the World Wide Web." As in, "let me google that."

Linguists said google is among the fastest words to enter the lexicon. It reached the pages of the dictionary just five years after its first known reference as a verb in a New York Post article. Usually, it takes 10 to 20 years for a word to enter everyday use. "That's typical for words used on or about the Web," said John Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster. "Those are words that establish themselves in the language the quickest, because of the power of the Web to propagate words."

ADVERTISEMENT

The Oxford English Dictionary last month added the verb Google - but capitalized - to its online dictionary.

Branding experts said such notoriety is hardly a blessing for a corporate trademark. Just ask the makers of Xerox copiers, Band-Aid bandages, Kleenex tissues or Jell-O gelatin.

"I think it's more of a curse," said Rob Frankel, a Los Angeles consultant who has advised Walt Disney, Honda and Sony on branding issues.

Companies go to extremes to prevent their trademark from falling into "common parlance" - a word that's in everyday use, and no longer enjoys legal protection, Frankel said. Xerox Corp, for instance, ran an ad campaign imploring people not to refer to every photocopying machine as a "Xerox."

Attorneys for Johnson & Johnson advised the company to change the jingle for its adhesive bandage from "I am stuck on Band-Aid 'cause Band- Aid's stuck on me" to include the word "brand" after the corporate name - in the interest of safeguarding its trademark. "It goes `I'm stuck on Band-Aid brand 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me,"' said Frankel. "That's why they did that."

Frankel said Google risks losing the value of its corporate trademark if it becomes part of everyday speech. "It's going to also hurt Google because, even though they play everything very, very close to the vest, it's very clear that Google is far more than a search engine," he said. "With Xerox, it's like saying that all Xerox does is copying. That totally disregards all their other incredible pioneering efforts."

Brand names that devolve into common use can lose their trademark status. Think cellophane and aspirin.

Peter Sealey, former chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola, said that while working for the soft drink giant he had to avoid using "Coke" as an adjective, even in internal company memos (the "Coke media plan," for example, was verboten). "We had to take elaborate steps to maintain the purity of the trademark."

Google appreciates the peril. In its 2005 annual report to investors, the Mountain View, California, company noted that "there is a risk that the word `Google' could become so commonly used that it becomes synonymous with the word `search.' If this happens, we could lose protection for our trademark, which could result in other people using the word `Google' to refer to their own products."

At least for now, Google offered a measured reaction to the news.

"Defining Google as a verb and as using the Google search engine is appropriate," said company spokesman Steve Langdon.

LOS ANGELES TIMES