Class 46 has picked up a report from Stephanie Bodoni (Bloomberg) that Google Inc., owner of the world's most-used internet search engine, has failed in its bid to get European Union-wide trade mark protection for the word Gmail, the name of its web-based email service. In a decision given on 26 February, this freshly-posted OHIM Board of Appeal decision considered the word to be confusingly similar to an existing German trade mark owned by businessman Daniel Giersch and which consists of a slogan containing the word G-mail ("G-mail ... ... und die Post geht richtig ab" -- meaning "G-mail ... an the service really takes off"). According to the Board of Appeal, the relevant German consumers would be confused into believing that the services of Giersch and Google shared a common commercial origin.

Giersch received his German trade mark in 2000 and has been fighting Google's application in Europe since 2004. He operates a mail business that lets users send electronic files and messages through a central email system, the controversial "G" standing for his last name.