Google’s new Alphabet restructuring may run into legal issues with BMW

Google is now a subsidiary of a bigger company called Alphabet, but they may run into some issues using that name. Apparently, the name Alphabet (and alphabet.com) is already registered to German automobile manufacturer BMW. That Alphabet handles support to corporations for vehicle fleets, and BMW isn’t interested in selling the name or website domain. Google never approached BMW with an offer to purchase the domain, anyway, but that’s a moot point.

However, just because Google is using the name doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve broken any laws or infringed on BMW’s copyright. Technically, two companies can use the same name so long as it doesn’t cause any confusion for customers. Google might run into a problem with this considering they’re pretty heavily invested in Android Auto and self-driving cars, but that’ll be up to BMW to investigate if they plan on suing for Google’s use of the name.

This entire rebranding scheme is a little confusing, and throwing trademark litigations on top of everything definitely won’t help. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out with both companies, though.

source: New York Times

Come comment on this article: Google’s new Alphabet restructuring may run into legal issues with BMW