The search engine giant Google Inc. (www.google.com) announced on April 20 that it has sued Froogles.com (www.froogles.com), charging the rival shopping search engine with trademark infringement. Google filed a 68-page complaint against Froogles.com in the Eastern District Court of New York. The complaint alleges that Froogles.com’s proprietor Richard Wolfe illegally traded on Google's famous name and search brand for profit with a nearly identical mark. Google asked the court to shut down its rival and order transfer of the domain name, among other relief.
The proprietor of Froogles.com registered the Web address in December 2000 but did not use the domain for business until July 2002. Google claims that this was four years after it had secured rights to its Google trademarks. Froogles.com registered for a trademark for e-commerce related marketing services in September 2003.
