Slashdot Mirror
Google Loses Gmail Trademark Case
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."
Nissan.com I think is the traditional example.
Quick link to why this is a traditional example:
http://nissan.com/Digest/The_Story.php
In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
Sadly, I agree with you at the same time I disagree. Google being the type of company it is surely was aware of G-Mail before they ever even launched gmail and were betting the odds nothing would happen. surely they thought this guy would concede to the great do no evil google. I haven't trusted google since they went public. I don't have a gmail account, and I rarely use any google services except for search. Even those I have done through tor and anonymously as I have never signed up for ANY google service. This case goes on to further prove my point and I hope google is forced to change its service name. There is an easy way to do this. google could be allowed used of gmail for one year and all emails sent from a gmail account will autonomously be fixed to send from googlemail.com instead. Any mail sent to gmail will also send a reply back to originator that all future mail should be sent to googlemail instead. No harm done to anyone.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
More to the point he only started registering his trademark abroad after GMail itself launched. Read the article, he registered G-Mail as a trademark in Switzerland in 2005.
They have already been locked out from the name gmail in the UK, and have to give googlemail.com names to UK users.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.