Google's Gmail loses trademark ruling in Europe
A European trademark office has ruled that Google cannot register "Gmail" across Europe, but a Google spokesman says the company can still use the name in countries where it is being used.
Currently, Google's free Web-based e-mail service is known as "Gmail" in all European countries, except for the United Kingdom and Germany, where it goes by "Google Mail" as a result of trademark disputes in those countries.
"The decision of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) not to have the Gmail trademark registered on a pan-European basis will have no effect whatsoever on the current use of the trademark Gmail in Europe," said Google spokesman Ricardo Reyes.
"Outside of Germany and the UK--where Google's Web mail service is called 'Google Mail'--the product will remain with Google's trademark 'Gmail.' There will be no changes in the experience of Gmail for our users in Europe, neither will there be any changes for the Google Mail users in Germany and the U.K.," he said.
The challenge to Google's pan-European trademark attempt was brought by Daniel Giersch, a German-born venture capitalist who says he registered his "Gmail" trademark years before Google launched its e-mail service. A Hamburg, Germany, district court ruled in favor of Giersch and Google has appealed.
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor. 
