Google gives up on Gmail name in UK

Google stopped using the Gmail name in the UK on Wednesday, ending a trademark dispute for now.

The Gmail service will now be known as Googlemail here.

A Google representative said that the search giant decided to change the suffix after protracted wranglings with research firm Independent International Investment Research (IIIR), which uses the name G-mail to refer to a part of its financial analytics software.

"We are still working with the courts and trademark office to ensure our ability to use the Gmail name, but this could take years to resolve," the representative said. "And in the meantime, we want our users to have an email address and experience they can rely on. We also want to relieve both Google and our users of the distraction of the dispute."

While all previous Gmail accounts will remain valid, new UK users signing up for Google's email service will be given accounts ending in @googlemail.com, rather than @gmail.com.

The search giant, which first launched Gmail in April 2004, voluntarily ceded the trademark to IIIR.

IIIR registered the trademark Gmail in the time between Google's Webmail launch and the search firm's own attempt to trademark the Gmail name.

Google said IIIR "contacted us in June 2004 and claimed rights to 'Gmail' and sought a 'business solution'; in other words, they wanted money." Although no official figure has been put on IIIR's request, Google's representative described the sum as "exorbitant".

In a recent report from IIIR on the name dispute, however, the company said it "considers the proposals it made to Google for settlement of this matter to be fair and reasonable to both parties". In a valuation of the Gmail trademark conducted in a draft discussion document in December 2004, IIIR set the brand's worth at between £25m and £34m although the company later said it would settle for a considerably lower sum.

Google and IIIR entered into negotiations, which soured after IIIR CEO Shane Smith broke the pair's agreement to keep discussions confidential. Google then started its own talks with the press, prompting Smith to provide more details about the ongoing negotiations.

Google maintains IIIR's claim is tenuous at best.