Google loses battle to Groovle

Don’t mess with Canada.

The National Arbitration Forum has ruled that Groovle.com can keep its name despite a complaint from Google that people would confuse it with the popular search engine.

The forum, which handles disputes over domain names, ruled that the groovle.com name was not confusing in rejecting Google’s complaint.

Groovle allows people to customize their Internet homepage with images of favorite celebrities, sports teams, political figures or more personal images of friends and families. The name is a play on the word “groovy.”

The company’s web site notes that Groovle.com is not owned, operated, sponsored or endorsed by Google.

Google argued that the domain name groovle.com was “nearly identical or confusingly similar” to Google. It noted that Groovle is only two letters different from Google, and also complained that Groovle was using a website layout that mimics Google’s search homepage.

It said Groovle was clearly using the Google trademark to attract internet users to is own site for commercial gain.

Google has repeatedly sought to protect its trademark. The case against Groovle is its 65th, and only the second time it was unsuccessful, according to the National Arbitration Forum website. It also lost a complaint against froogle.com.

The CBC noted in a report on the case that this is the second time in two weeks a U.S. heavyweight has been defeated by a Canadian upstart. The U.S. Federal Appeals Court last week upheld an injunction against Microsoft, finding it had infringed on a patent held by a Toronto company.