Shoutbox

quote:

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Originally posted by saralk

what i think happened is that someone registered gmail in the UK as soon as they caught wind of what they are doing in America.

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Not true, the company in question is Independent II Research, who used the name "G-mail" for a web based mail project of their own dating back to 2002. A long time before G-mail was even a gleam in one of it's programmer's eye.

However the tactic of intentional cyber-squatting, like you mentioned, is a good way to make money, it is now illegal in many countries.

quote:

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Originally posted by saralk
The guy who did that will probably just get a small fortune in compensation and hand over the trademark

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The way they are fighting the case he doesn't seem to want any money or compensation, just to keep the trademark. However the company may accept money in the long term, if Google wants to keep @Gmail as a worldwide name. However that's only if
1) Independent II Research is willing to give up their Gmail trademark
2) Google is willing to pay.

If you are into this kind of stuff, you may want to get your hands on a @googlemail.com address, since that may disappear depending on the outcome of Google's rights over the legal status of the use of Gmail as a trademark in the UK.

Tbh, this comes down to the fact that Google should have looked for other companies which hold the right to the name of Gmail or could have a claim for it before they launched the service. Even a quick Google for the term "Gmail" would have done