A Cre8asite Forums thread discusses the response by Ask.com to Google's request for you to only "Google" at Google.com. To summarize, Google posted Do you "Google?" asking;
We'd like to make clear that you should please only use "Google" when you’re actually referring to Google Inc. and our services.
Ask.com decided to have some fun with that request, as all of the media did, with their post You Do and/or May, In Fact, "Ask" (or "ask").
As our colleagues at Google work to protect their brand from becoming a generic term for Web search, we're receiving lots of mail and calls asking us to clarify the difference between "ask" and "Ask" (as in "Ask.com®")
To me, this seems a bit like Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com's, humor - but I have no proof of that. It is nice to see Ask.com play like this.
In any event, there is a nice discussion about trademarks and copyrights - and use of terms at Cre8asite Forums if you are up for it.