As we reported in July, Google’s Chinese arm makes use of the word "Guge"; Beijing Guge Science and Technology labeled this practice a trademark violation.  It was also, of course, an opportunity for Beijing Guge Science and Technology to sue a company with a market cap of $222 billion, and many suspected this was what the lawsuit was all about.

Regardless, Lynn Qu reports, "[T]he suit was thrown out because it was established that Google China used the name ‘Gu Ge’ on 12 April 2006, seven days before Beijing Gu Ge registered its name.  Beijing Gu Ge claimed in the lawsuit that it had the rights to the name because Google’s China subsidiary was not officially registered until 24 November 2006."

Since the Chinese government has so frequently censored and harassed Google, we’re a bit surprised to see the court rule in its favor.  Also, it’s startling to see any legal matter resolved so quickly.  So with a hat tip to Barry Schwartz, we’ll let this odd matter rest, and allow Chinese Googlers to have a relatively rare celebration.

Valleywag declares it “wimpy”. Looking through the video with the English translation, who agrees?

I’ve transcribed it:

It’s spring, everything is growing, having thriving vitality

In this sowing season, Google take the name Valley (Grain) Song. Using the grain as a song, it is a song of sowing and expectation. It’s also a song of harvesting and joy.

We hope that Guge will integrate global information for everybody, so that everyone can have access to it and will benefit.

Welcome to Guge. Let’s search for you. Let’s harvest for you.

One piece of information is just like one piece of grass, alive and full of vitality, together they build up a big, endless, green lawn.

We see each website as a voter, voting for one another. All these search results are ranking completely according to the voting, because we believe that everybody is equal in front of the information. Only the information voted by everybody on the internet is trustable and valuable.

We also hope that once you visit Guge, you can find quickly the information you need, and then leave to do your own thing. We are working very hard to help you save time and we are also trying to find out ways to get more information for you.

It is/was out expectation that to put a very big server on the boat and just let the ever flowing water be the energy to drive the integrity of information. It seems like a beautiful and romantic picture but it shows our desire to pursue our ideals day and night.

Today we have integrated only a small part of the endless information. Our mission is to collect all the information in the world to serve all the people in the world.

There is still a lot of information, we have a lot more to do.

Well, the words are pretty straight-forward, and the look of the video, while strange to Americans, looks decidedly appropriate for a Chinese audience. Look, some countries have loud and flashy ads, others have more subdued and floaty marketing. The point of marketing is to be successful, not make sense to non-target audiences.

So, Chinese readers, does the ad work for you? I know you’re out there (I’ve seen the trackbacks). Also, did anyone feel like the message was almost pro-democracy, in a subtle yet subversive way?

Watch the movie after the jump.

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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

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