GMail is no more!

[Adam]

... for UK users at least:

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/int...ooglemail.html

It seems GMail has had trademark problems in the UK now. I hope existing users can keep our gmail.com address, because googlemail.com... well... just sucks

[mondine]

Well, it's a sensible thing to do, while the trademark issue is still before the courts. And they already had some infrastructure for this in place in Germany, where they've been doing this for a while.

It's a smart move financially, too. If dealing with someone that might be trying to hold Google hostage for a big pay-off in negotiations for the gmail name, hoping for a bigger payday to extinguish their claim, the move effectively strengthens Google's bargaining position.
It demonstrates that an "all or nothing" bargaining stance may well reap nothing.
After all, what is the best value in a claim to the "Gmail" name? The ability to use it, or the potential to sell it to Google?

It will also be interesting to see how the UK users of Gmail will deal with this. After all, 'nationality' in the Internet world is a nebulous thing.
Will resourceful UK users really be absolutely prevented from getting a "gmail" address? I tend to doubt it.

In the meantime, those UK people currently possessing a Gmail address can now enjoy an 'exclusive' status. Who doesn't (at least, secretly) enjoy having something that's 'no longer available' to their neighbours?

But I believe it will be a temporary situation, until a sensible ruling is made for Google's claim to the name, or other claimants realize that their cash bonanza is in danger of slipping away.
As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't mind seeing them switch the whole system to "GoogleMail", just to see the other claimants left holding an empty bag.

It's Google's use that makes the Gmail name valuable. Not the other way around.

[Stuff2Do]

And ill start using [email]mail@mydomain.com[/url]

Gmail is no more, I guess anyone could lie and say they are a UK resident (they arent going to check) meaning anyone could use @gmail.com

[sirlaguna]

Will all old UK gmail accounts stay @gmail.com or will they change?

[Adam]

They are staying as @gmail.com for now, but there's a possibility they'll change.

[sirlaguna]

Thats a shame who is making Google change the name?

[Adam]

Independent International Investment Research - they're a British company and trademarked the name GMail for their web-based email product in 2002.

[sirlaguna]

Yeah I just saw this

-------------------------------------------------What if I'm a UK user who already has a Gmail address? Will I also need to change that address?
No, this change doesn’t affect existing Gmail addresses. For now, our plan is only to issue @googlemail.com addresses to new users. Trust that we will do the best we can to offer all our users a reliable and consistent email experience.
-------------------------------------------------

If it's already trademarked they will proberbly have to change all of the accounts not just the new ones.

But didn't Google buy the @Gmail.com address name from another company?

[Adam]

I'm not sure. They might just pay off Independent International Investment Research so that we can keep our existing email addresses.

I certainly don't want to have to change my email address and have to tell everyone the new address, as well as changing it on all the sites I'm a member/customer of, and I'm pretty sure no-one else will want this. Very bad move by Google. They can't expect smaller companies just to roll over and let Google walk all over them just because they're "The Big G".

[sirlaguna]

True I hope Google gets the name back my friend thinks it's c**p that we may have to change to @googlemail.com instead of just @gmail.com!

The info is:

Despite lengthy negotiations, a dispute over the naming of Google's email service look set to be settled in the courts

A UK company is considering filing a lawsuit against Google over its use of the Gmail name.

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

Independent II Research, a provider of investment research, has been using the "G-Mail" name for its Pronet subsidiary's Web-based email product since May 2002, Smith said. That was two years before Google launched its Gmail web-based email service in April 2004. The "G" in Independent II Research's product name stands for "Graphiti", an integrated text and graphics feature, he said.

Smith said: "We have applied for registration as a trademark, and we believe we have priority over Google in that application process. We think Google is a good company with good products but we have a pre-existing right to this name — and we have to. On the grounds of it [being] in the interest of our shareholders, we have to defend that right."

Independent II Research may file a lawsuit against Google in collaboration with a German company that has a similar complaint against the use of the Gmail name, he said. A court temporarily ordered Google to change the name of its Gmail product in Germany, after Google was sued by Giersch Ventures. The product is now 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.

Google did not return an email seeking comment. (Google representatives have instituted a policy of not talking with CNET News.com reporters until July 2006 in response to privacy issues raised by a previous story.)

The problem is just one of several legal headaches for Google. Last week, the company settled a lawsuit with car insurance firmr Geico for an undisclosed amount. Geico had complained that Google was responsible for trademark infringement for displaying advertising paid for by Geico's rivals when Internet users searched for the word "Geico" on Google's search engine. The judge ruled late last year and issued a written ruling last month that said Geico had established a likelihood that the practice could cause confusion for Web surfers.

On Tuesday, a Washington state judge ruled that a former Microsoft executive could do very limited work for Google in China in a lawsuit filed by Microsoft against the search giant. Kai-Fu Lee can begin recruiting staff for a Google development centre in China, rather than waiting until after a January trial but he can't do other management functions or work on computer search or speech-recognition technologies, the ruling said.

From http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/leg...9218121,00.htm

Andylkl edit: Remember to use quote tags!