Google has given up the fight in an ongoing trademark lawsuit with a firm in Great Britain over rights to the “gmail” name.
Independent International Investment Research (IIR) had claimed that Google’s “gmail” name was causing confusion for users of its “g-mail” service that’s been around since 2002.
Google said its services were significantly different than IIR’s and that the company’s claims to be a “Web-based email” offering were false.
Even still, they agreed to change all new UK addresses to name@googlemail.com. Existing users can keep their gmail.com address until the issue is resolved.
I kind of think Google is in the right with this one – they sound like two totally different services, but no doubt they’ve got bigger fish to fry.
More on the story here in Business Week.
