14 DAY TRIAL // After a long German lawsuit, the court blocked the Mountain View company from using the Gmail domain in the country as it is already owned by Daniel Giersch since 2000. In fact, Google knew that it has no chance to buy the domain from the original owner and moved the case to the court in order to obtain it by force. However, something went wrong and Google lost the lawsuit so the search giant is not able to use the main Gmail.de domain. According to Press Esc, Google filed complaints in several cases because it wanted to put the pressure on Daniel Giersch and to obtain the domain easier.
Meanwhile, the German court analyzed the case and blocked the search giant from using the Gmail domain. "Google infringed the young businessman's trademark that had been previously been registered," said the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court according to Press Esc. "As far as the Hanseatic Higher Court is concerned, the legal situation is unambiguous to the extent that it has not allowed an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice," added Giersch's lawyer Sebastian Eble, from the office of Preu Bohling & Associates, according to the same source.
Since the beginning of the lawsuit, Daniel Giersch denied to offer the domain to Google as he registered it in 2000. The main purpose of the domain is to promote a hybrid mail system that is quite different from the one offered by Google.
"I have made it clear since the beginning that I will never sell the name," Giersch said for the same publicaiton. "It is my sole intention to realise my idea for a hybrid mail system. I am absolutely convinced of its success. Neither "G-mail" nor myself are for sale."
The winning of the lawsuit is quite important because it proves that Google is not always able to make use of its power and obtain everything it wants. Although the owner of the domain was afraid that he might lose the case against Google, the judge refused the Mountain View company's demand. Probably, the search giant will create another domain, just like in other cases, with a clear nickname: Googlemail.