Google's Gmail Faces Trademark Issue

By WebProNews - Wed, 04/07/2004 - 2:56pm.

The rollout of Google's new email service, Gmail, may have hit a snag. The Market Age, a smaller British company, claims they already have trademark rights for the name "Gmail", and have been using it since June of 2002.

The Market Age states that their email service is available to over 80 countries and that it will not just relinquish rights to the name "Gmail." In an interview with The Guardian, Chief Executive of The Market Age, Shane Smith said, "it seems to me as a layman ... that we must have the right to the name since we were the first to use it. I do not think we want to give it up, we're not a charity."

Google's representatives said they were unaware of any trademark dispute. The search engine's lawyers failed to find any registration of the name by The Market Age.

News of the potential trademark face-off saw The Market Age's stock double in price. Currently, TMA is in the process of contacting the US Patents Office in hopes of registering its interest in the trademark.

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