Gmail Becomes Google Mail in the UK

akadruid writes "As of today, UK Gmail users are seeing 'Google Mail' at the top of their Gmail accounts, and Google is warning they may lose their '@gmail.com' addresses in the future. All new signups from the UK will be assigned '@googlemail.com' addresses, and existing accounts will be able to use either domain for now. Gmail's help pages explain this is related to their ongoing dispute regarding the Gmail trademark."

Comments

links and background info

[cyclomedia]

quick google search (heh) turned up this:

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3 394361

suggesting that a bunch of people attempted to register gmail as a trademark at the same time back in march/april 2004, including google who were a bit slow off the bat. this applies in the US and i assume it's been resolved, anybody?

as for the uk this guardian article

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,125 97,1568223,00.html?gusrc=rss

suggests that the company registered it waaaay back in 2002, therefore not qualifying for bandwaggoning and actually probably having a legit claim.

Re:FAQ-ing confusing

[bedroll]

Q4:

What if I'm a UK user who already has a Gmail address? Will that address ever change?
Unfortunately, we don't know. We would love to say that your address will always remain the same. But the trademark issue is still unsettled, and unfortunately, we cannot predict what the other party or the courts might do here. You can always use your same username with an @googlemail.com address to avoid this issue later on. But trust that we will do the best we can to make sure your email address won't ever have to change.

Translation: They cannot guarantee that your address won't change if you have an existing account and are allowed to continue using the gmail.com domain.

Q5:

What if I'm a UK user who already has a Gmail address? Will I also need to change that address?
No, this change doesn't affect existing Gmail addresses. For now, our plan is only to issue @googlemail.com addresses to new users. Trust that we will do the best we can to offer all our users a reliable and consistent email experience.

Translation: You don't need to change your address right now if you have an existing account that is allowed to use the gmail.com domain. New accounts will not be issued gmail.com email addresses, in favor of googlemail.com.

They are very close, but there's just enough difference to make them both valuable questions and answers.

Other company has had an email service since 2002

[grandmofftarkin]

They are using it for an email service already and have done since 2002. They don't have millions of users but I don't think that should matter as long as they do (and did) provide a viable email service of the same name.

Re:Yep

[ngoy]

More information here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4354954.stm. The company (International Investment Research) has some stupid button that says gmail on an app, and then decided to get it registered after google came out with gmail. The company is only worth $5.6 Million anyways. I hope google decides to just do a hostile takeover (they are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange) and then fire the dumbasses and their legal team for being conniving assholes.