The ruling marks the second time this month that a Canadian small business has defeated a tech giant
Canadian small business owners, take heart: For the second time in a month, a Canadian small business has defeated a technology giant in court.
Groovle, the tiny tech startup from Oakville, Ontario that lets users create a customized Google search page background, has emerged victorious from a legal battle with Google. The search giant had claimed that the domain name Groovle.com was too similar to Google.com, which could potentially confuse consumers.
The U.S.-based National Arbitration Forum ruled that the complaint was unfounded, largely because Groovle is said to derive from "groovy," not "Google."
"The domain name is not confusingly similar to Complainant's GOOGLE mark. The dissimilar letters in the domain name are sufficiently different to make it distinguishable from Complainant's mark because the domain name creates an entirely new word and conveys an entirely singular meaning from the mark," the ruling read.
This case adds to the mounting evidence that Canadian small business owners should invest in proper intellectual property and trademark protection for their brand and product or service - last week, the small Toronto tech startup i4i won US$290 million in a lawsuit against Microsoft for patent violation.
