Google loses Gmail trademark case in Germany
Looks like Google will finally have to stop using the Gmail trademark in Germany. A German appellate court ruled against the company, says German venture capitalist Daniel Giersch, who brought the case against Google. The court is expected to provide a written ruling on July 4, according to Google and Giersch.
Giersch runs an electronic postal delivery business that goes by the name G-mail, which is short for "Giersch mail." Giersch says he only wants to use the trademark in Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Monaco.
A Swiss court also has ruled against Google.
Separately, Google had to rename its e-mail service Google Mail in the United Kingdom in 2005 after losing a trademark case there. Google's use of the trademark also is being challenged in Poland.
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.
language, money, must the German courts insist on creating even
more barriers to trade and industry? Google may not have been
the very first with Gmail as moniker, but surely causing grief to the
the billions of people sure to be using Google's Gmail worldwide far
outweighs the local German cabal? Such disputes should be
settled, and settled quickly, by international trading organizations,
not by local yokel kangaroo courts in uber Gintesberg.
Anyone who wishes to trade in the EU is subject to EU laws.
I am sure that the 'local yokels', as you so quaintly call them,
will continue to subject your corporations to the law, no matter
how much it distresses you - or them.
Have a nice day .
How thoughtless is that!
It's not like a population of half that of the USA is something it is worth a company like Google thinking about when they set up a new service, they don't even speak English over there!
"Do no evil!" but then perhaps it isn't evil to destroy someone else's business because you couldn't be bothered to do a trademark search...
- too little too late Google
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by wylbur
June 22, 2007 3:50 PM PDT
- Hey, Google came along late and said we are so big we trump an
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Reply to this comment
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(4 Comments)established trademark and brand. That's a pretty hard thing to do
and would pretty much make trademark law meaningless.
Google has been overly aggressive. Whatever happened with their
suit against Googles.com, the toddler supply site that predated
Google and had a trademark on Googles?