Google Sued over Gmail Name

After 15 months of negotiations with Google, Independent International Investment Research has been unable to reach a settlement with Google on use of the trademark and may sue the search giant, Shane Smith, chief executive of Independent II Research, said Tuesday.

Independent II Research, a provider of investment research, has been using the "G-Mail" name for its Pronet subsidiary's Web-based e-mail product since May 2002, Smith said. That was two years before Google launched its Gmail Web-based e-mail service in April 2004. The "G" in Independent II Research's product name stands for "Graphiti," an integrated text and graphics feature, he said. A court temporarily ordered Google to change the name of its Gmail product in Germany, after Google was sued by Giersch Ventures. Now the product is called "Google Mail" in Germany, pending the outcome of that trial.

Google has made settlement offers to Independent II Research, but none that were deemed reasonable, Smith said.

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