German auto giant has said it is not selling its Alphabet.com domain name to Alphabet

fuad lawal

August 12, 2015 6:42 AM

Perhaps, there's a chance Google, or rather, Alphabet, didnt google their new name before going public.

2015 BMW M4 Coupe

Alphabet, according to New York Times, has encountered an issue with german automaker BMW, which owns a fleet services company with the same name and the domain Alphabet.com.

A spokesperson for BMW told the Times the company isn't planning on selling its domain and that Alphabet was a large part of its business.

With the major restructuring announcement yesterday, Alphabet launched abc.xyz as its domain name. Alphabet, led by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, is now the parent company of Google, a move designed to separate the core products (search, Gmail, Android, etc.) from its more far reaching projects (Fiber, Calico, X, self-driving cars).

While the move makes sense for Alphabet, it confused many.

BMW is looking into whether Google's Alphabet has infringed on its trademark, with no legal action currently planned.

Several companies also have the Alphabet name. According to Reuters, notes that more than 100 companies have trademark registrations in the U.S. that incorporate the word alphabet in some capacity. For example, Alphabet, Inc. is an Ohio company founded in 1965 that manufactures electrical components for the auto industry.

Even the @Alphabet Twitter handle already has an owner. It belongs to a man named Chris Andrikanich, who is probably receiving a bit more attention than he's used to.

Google founder Page said Alphabet wouldn't be introducing products under its own name, so it wouldn't be a public facing name like Google.

In any event, it's oddly comforting to know Google/Alphabet has the same problem many do when they're trying to purchase a domain for their own website.

fuad lawal