Get ready, you may never read another article that uses the word “shorts” so many times again. Ready? A U.K. high court has ruled that Google has the freedom to use the word Shorts (here we go!) for YouTube’s platform Shorts. A British short film television channel called Shorts International sued Google last year, arguing that the name Shorts infringed its existing trademark for the word, you guessed it, shorts.
The court disagreed. “Google’s use of any of its marks, including the word “shorts,” does not give rise to a likelihood of confusion as to the origin,” Judge Michael Tappin said in his ruling. “While similarities between Google’s marks and SIL’s trademarks are legal in the U.K., the court has ruled that Google has the freedom to use the word Shorts (here we go!) for its platform Shorts.
“Google’s use of the marks including the word “Shorts” will not harm the distinctive character or reputation of SIL’s trademarks.” YouTube Shorts was launched in 2020 in response to the popularity of other short video platforms like TikTok. Two years later it reached more than 1.5 billion monthly users and can now show videos up to three minutes long – still quite short (12 shorts for you).
Google is partnering with The Associated Press to bring real-time information from the news agency to its Gemini app, the search giant announced Wednesday. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal builds on an existing partnership Google has with The Associated Press to get real-time information for its search engine. “This [Gemini app] will be particularly helpful for users who are looking for up-to-date information,” Google said of the deal.
Associated Press Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Kristin “AP and Google’s longstanding relationship is built on working together to provide timely, accurate news and information to a global audience,” Heitman said. “We’re pleased that Google has recognized the importance of AP’s journalism in the development of its generative AI products, as well as our commitment to nonpartisan reporting.”
In 2023, The Associated Press was one of the first news publishers to partner with an AI firm, signing a two-year deal with OpenAI that gave the company access to select news content dating back to 1985.
Since then, several other publishers have followed suit with their own agreements. In fact, just earlier today, Axios announced a three-year deal with OpenAI, under which the AI startup will fund four new local newsrooms. Last year, OpenAI partnered with People publisher Dotdash Meredith, a deal that has since been reported to be worth at least $16 million annually.