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Google settled the German naming dispute over Gmail in 2012, clearing the way for the service to use the Gmail name in Germany. The resolution followed years in which Google used “Googlemail” because Daniel Giersch had earlier German rights in “G-mail.” German users later moved to Gmail branding while keeping their old googlemail.com addresses reachable.
Why Gmail was called Googlemail in Germany
Daniel Giersch registered the German “G-mail” name in 2000. Contemporaneous reporting describes his service as combining email with regular mail. When Google introduced Gmail in 2004, the earlier German rights became an obstacle to using the Gmail name there, so Google used “Googlemail” while the dispute continued. PCWorld’s April 2012 report describes this naming conflict and its resolution.
The dispute involved more than one legal track, and it is useful not to conflate them. An official notice in the EU Official Journal records case T-527/10, Google v OHIM — Giersch Ventures. It concerned Google’s challenge to an OHIM Board of Appeal decision in an opposition involving Google’s figurative GMail application in classes 9, 38 and 42, and German G-mail word and figurative marks. The notice documents the procedural context; it is not a full merits judgment resolving every German trademark or domain issue. The Official Journal notice for case T-527/10 is the primary record for that proceeding.
What was settled in 2012
On April 13, 2012, PCWorld reported that the German Gmail trademark had been transferred from G-mail GmbH to Google, citing a filing with Germany’s patent and trademark office (DPMA). The report also said the related domain dispute was over. Google spokesman Mark Jansen said: “The legal conflicts around the use of the trademark Gmail and respective domains in Germany are terminated.”
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Google declined to provide further details of the settlement or explain its future plans for the brand, according to PCWorld’s April 16 report. The reported transfer and Google’s statement establish that the conflicts over the mark and related domains were terminated; they do not disclose a settlement amount, payment, warranties or other private terms. The underlying DPMA transfer filing and a current German register extract are not available in the cited reporting, so the transfer is best described as contemporaneously reported rather than independently verified from the register.
When German users got Gmail addresses
On June 20, 2012, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Google Mail in Germany was now called Gmail and that users’ addresses were to move from googlemail.com to gmail.com. The old addresses remained reachable, so the change in branding and address format did not mean users lost access through their previous addresses. Süddeutsche Zeitung’s report covers the user-facing change.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the settlement did—and did not—mean
The 2012 resolution concerned Google’s company-level rights to use the Gmail name and related domains in Germany. It should not be confused with Google’s later treatment of individual Gmail usernames. Current Gmail Help guidance says Google does not monitor or control the addresses users choose and advises trademark owners who believe a Gmail address misuses their mark to contact the address holder. That present-day guidance is separate from the historical dispute between Google and Giersch-related interests.
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