Google rebrands its free
GMail web service in the UK
Google voluntarily dropped the
Gmail brand in the UK following a trademark dispute with Independent
International Investment Research (IIIR) ,who
has been using the "G-Mail" name for its Pronet subsidiary's Web-based e-mail
product since May 2002.
Although Google replaced "Gmail"
with "googlemail" in Great Britain, a lawsuit is still looming:
Shane Smith, chairman and chief executive
of Independent II Research, asserts that the dispute about the ownership of the
rights to Gmail is by no means over, because Google's decision to change the
name of its email services to Google mail relates solely to the UK. IIIR
announced it would still pursue Google for damages and that it
expected the US search engine to drop Gmail worldwide.
Earlier this year, Google lost
the right to use Gmail in Germany, following a dispute with Daniel Giersch, who had registered 'Gmail - und die Post geht richtig ab' with the
German Patent Office in 2000.
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October 19, 2005: Leyden,
John,
Google loses its G-spot, The Register:
"A trademark dispute has forced Google to re-brand its Gmail web mail
service in the UK. Existing users get to retain their Gmail address (at
least for now) but from Wednesday onwards new UK users will be given a
Googlemail email address instead."
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October 19, 2005,
Google muss auch englisches Gmail umbenennen, Heise:
"Auch in England muss Google seinen Freemail-Dienst Gmail nach einem
Markenrechtsstreit umbenennen."