Google Versus Froogles Redux

April 2005

Having been rebuffed by an ICANN panel, search giant Google brought its battle against Froogles.com to U.S. court.

Google filed a trademark infringement suit against Richard Wolfe, operator of the relatively tiny Froogles.com, on Monday. The search provider complained that consumers could confuse Wolfe's bargain-shopping site with Google's Froogle and even the name Google itself -- even though Wolfe had been using the name Froogles since December 2000. Wolfe applied for trademark protection for the name in September 2003.

Google launched Froogle in December 2002; it filed for trademark protection of the term in November 2002. The trademark application was approved in February 2004 and published to give others a chance to protest.

Both Wolfe and Stelor Productions, operator of kid-oriented Web site Googles.com, opposed granting the trademark. The Trademark Appeals Board is still considering whether to revoke the trademark, but Google has asked it to suspend the opposition proceeding pending the result of a court trial. Google executives had not responded to a request for comment by press time.