Google Case Law, and why it doesn’t matter…

Whenever Google launches a product there is a huge brouhaha over in the blogosphere (There. I used the stupid word.) and people go nuts about how it is going to be the next big thing. I am not the clean one and am as much to blame as any one else for being a fanboy. However, when Google launched the free legal case law I was hardly excited.

I was transported back to the days when I was so happy at the launch of Google Patents that I almost predicted doom for patent database providers. Heck, I even sent them an email with features I thought would have been easy to implement.

Little did I know that it would turn out to be some time pass project for some one bored of regular work at Google. Sure the tool is great, but the limited coverage and search make it almost useless, when Google, using its immense technological prowess could have brought patents to everyone with very little incremental work. But then I guess the team that worked on it got shifted to some more important stuff and the project now sits there like a tool which I use only to read patents – and not search them. What a waste I tell you!!

Sleep in peace Lexis Nexis – there is no battle brewing on your home turf!


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2 responses to “Google Case Law, and why it doesn’t matter…”

  1. Abhishek Sahay Avatar

    Google’s technological prowess, unfortunately, is restricted to the publicly available data. So, venturing into a domain which, for a complete and proper justice, requires digging into paid/proprietary data is something which is just not Google’s forte. A quick reference it can always provide (and this will be a good deal for the average net-user, who might just click a Diamond vs Chakraborty or a KSR Telefax) but for professional work, the dedicated tool will rule. Until, of course, the lunch gets free!

    1. Goyal Avatar

      Abhishek, if my memory serves me well, all patent data is in public domain and is publicly available. And it would cost Google peanuts to get it in bulk for once.

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