A Chinese company is suing Google鈥檚 China subsidiary for copying its name, saying the US search engine鈥檚 registered Chinese name is too similar to its own and has harmed its operations.
Google changed the name of its to G菙 g膿, meaning 鈥渧alley song鈥� in April 2006.
A spokesman for the Chinese company Beijing Guge Science and Technology says this has led to the company being constantly disturbed by people calling up its office trying to contact the search engine.
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鈥淲e just want Google to change their commercial name,鈥� says Tian Yunshan, a company official. 鈥淲e have already passed our demands on to Google. We will see what happens in court.鈥�
The search engine鈥檚 Chinese name 鈥� a transliteration of the English word 鈥淕oogle鈥� 鈥� was also used in Beijing Guge鈥檚 commercially registered name, Tian says.
People searching for Google through a local telephone directory assistance service were invariably directed to Beijing Guge, as the search engine was not listed, Tian explains.
The case had been accepted by a court in Beijing鈥檚 Haidian district, according to the Beijing News. Its chance of success, however, is unclear. Tian declined to comment on Beijing Guge鈥檚 operations, its products or services, saying it was 鈥渘ot convenient鈥� to disclose such details.
A Google spokesman contacted by telephone declined to confirm the case and did not provide comment.
