BMW is apparently not too thrilled about Google deciding to go with the name Alphabet, and they have some concerns according to several news outlets.
FleetNews.co.uk wrote:
Vehicle leasing company Alphabet is investigating whether Google has infringed its trademark after the tech giant gave its new parent company the same name.
Following a restructure, Google has created a new parent company called Alphabet Inc.
The leasing and fleet management company, owned by BMW, told Fleet News: “The possibility of any trademark infringement is currently under review.”
The leasing company’s website – www.alphabet.com – struggled to initially cope with traffic after Google announced the new parent company’s name, with people mistakenly thinking the car leasing site was something to do with the tech company.Google co-founder Larry Page said the name Alphabet was chosen for two reasons. It represents language, “the core of how we index with Google search”, and because Alpha-bet means “investment return above benchmark, which we strive to do”.
Google has said that in creating a parent company called Alphabet Inc, it was not intending to build products and brands under that name.
If it did, then it might have to contend with legal fallout for potentially trampling on the trademark rights of what is a fairly common brand among dozens of businesses, including the BMW-owned car leasing company.
FRANKFURT — BMW on Tuesday said it was looking into whether Google infringed any trademark rights after the Silicon Valley-based group set up a new company called Alphabet, which is also the name of a BMW subsidiary.
“We are examining whether there are any implications over trademarks,” a BMW spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The spokeswoman said there were currently no plans to take legal steps against Google.
BMW’s Alphabet, which provides services to companies with vehicle fleets, operates in 18 countries and supplies 530,000 vehicles to corporate customers.
Google was not immediately available for comment.
A legal dispute is unlikely since Google made clear in its announcement on Monday that in creating a parent company called Alphabet Inc, it was not intending to build products and brands under that name.
So Google buys BMW I don’t see the problem.
Ridiculous trademark trolling.
Alphabet is a generic word, and Google is not infringing on their use.
Just fishin’
Yeah, Google (or Alphabet) is developing a self driving car, right?
So? Here we go. Double penalty.
(1) Not having .COM is a sign of weakness.
(2) Choosing a name matching a competitor’s mark is a sign of arrogance.
I’m really enjoying this 🙂
Wait until ABC gets in the game.
That’s exactly what i said in a previous comment on this blog : Disney /ABC.com will also sue for trademark infringement as both companies act in entertainment / video….
Disagree with that angle, ABC is the domain they are using, They are not using the American Broadcast Corporation, ABC doesn’t own ABC.net/org/info/co/co.uk/de.
The name of the company is Alphabet not ABC and the American Broadcasting Corporation doesn’t have sole rights to ABC.
Most TMCH entries would disagree. In fact, as ABC.XYZ was sold by the Registry, it probably violated one such TM notice that would otherwise be displayed, if anyone were to hand-register the domain.
Raymond, I agree with you.
Acro, your comment is misleading. Nobody can have exclusive rights to any domain name just because it is or contains a registered trademark, and I’m sure you know that.
I agree it’s highly likely that there would have been a ‘TM notice’ which you refer to, on the ABC.xyz domain.
The ABC mark is almost guaranteed to have been registered with the Trademark Clearing House if not by the American Broadcasting Company, by any amount of other registered trademark holders of the term ABC.
However, when registering a domain which is or contains a registered trademark, and accepting the TM notice, the spectre of infringement only arises if the use of that domain name abuses the registered rights.
So to say the very act of registering the domain in and of itself ‘probably violated’ the TM notice, is not accurate.
First, Google has no interest in buying BMW. Tesla – maybe.
If there is any potential TM infringement challenge in a Class related to BMW’s Alphabet mark, I’m sure Google & BMW will be able to work this out.
I just hope they don’t change my Gmail to Alpha-mail — haha
I’m sure Google attorneys would be involved in the registration process of the new company and learned enough not to infringe on any trademark.