Up until very recently, Google has been unable to register its ‘@gmail’ extension in Germany, and users were forced to type @googlemail.com when sending a message, all because the ‘G-mail’ name had been copyrighted in that country, long before Google …

Google’s not one to hold a grudge; today, Google.de features a logo celebrating Germany’s 1990 reunification.  But yesterday, a German court fined the search giant a little more than $14,000 for using the m.gmail.com domain for mobile search.

An all-but-final loss of the Gmail trademark case in Germany and a newly-passed law on retaining personal information on its users has Google’s email service reeling.