Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Loses Gmail Trademark Case

Posted by samzenpus on from the ooglemail-coming-soon dept.

amigoro writes "A court in Germany today banned Google from using the name 'Gmail' for its popular webmail service following a trademark suit filed by the founder of G-Mail. Daniel Giersch, started using the name G-Mail in 2000, four years before Google released 'Gmail'. "Google infringed the young businessman's trademark that had been previously been registered," said the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in its judgement."

3 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. Close it down! by dinther · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    This is stupid. The german company is called g-mail with a hyphen. So they should use the domain g-mail.de not gmail.de

    When did this guy actually register the domain name? Also 4 years ago?

    If I were Google I would simply shut down Google.de and the German GMail and give the whole country the big old middle finger. I bet it would only take months for local public pressure to force g-mail to get out of the way of the real Google GMail.

  2. Re:sort of makes me wish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    techgeek@gmail.com

    I'm an asshole!

  3. Subdomains???? by insomniac8400 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Germany is a joke if they think a stupid German company no one has heard about takes precedent over a world wide company. Even if Google can't have gmail, no legislation can take gmail.google.de from them? Assuming of course germany didn't take google.de from google. No one has a right to limit what subdomains a company uses.