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EU denies Gmail trademark for Google |
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Written by Felix Da Silva (fdasilva@bitnip.com)
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Wednesday, 19 March 2008 |
 Google could not get trademark protection in the European Union (EU) for Gmail because the mark is too similar to an existing German trademark.
According to the official documentation, Google has been blocked from getting the EU rights to the name because of the
trademark owned by a German businessman, Daniel Giersch, for a slogan that
includes the name "G-mail."
In the report it said,
There is a likelihood of confusion between the two marks... The common element "Gmail" is so similar that people will be misled into
thinking that the marks indicate a shared commercial origin. As we have reported last year, Giersch has been entangled in a
series of European court cases against Google.
The trademark agency rejected Google's argument that there was no risk of
confusion with its Gmail name when looking at Giersch's slogan as a whole.
The
main element of his trademark is the word "G-mail," according to the agency, the
Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM). The second part of the slogan
and the black and yellow colors, which are different from Google's colors, are
of secondary importance, it said.
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