Google loses Copyright Case to ‘Groovle’

Google has (for a change) lost a court case that it filed against a small Canadian search engine called Groovle.com. The search engine giant had claimed that the name resembled theirs closely enough to confuse people. Google had asked that 207 media, the company in question, hand over the domain to them, however this claim was refused by the arbitration panel appointed by the National Arbitration Forum.

The panel found that Groovle was not close enough for people to become confused between the two companies. In addition made the point that the term had more in common with words like ‘Groove’ and ‘Groovy’ which was, in their opinion, the companies true intention. The panel also refused to entertain Google’s claims that the company had registered the domain in bad faith, having no legitimate interest in the domain.

Groovle, which has been running for two and a half years without any complaint from Google, is powered by the search engine giant but is marketed as a way for people to customise their own search engine, allowing users to upload images that stay on the homepage until they change them themselves.

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