“Google Germany spokesperson Stefan Keuchel told The Local via email on
Monday that the change from www.gmail.com is a result of a trademark
lawsuit with German businessman Daniel Giersch, who owns the German
trademark for an email service called “G-mail…und die Post geht richtig ab” for his paid email service.

According to Keuchel, Google’s action stems from a German court
decision in July 2007, which ruled that Google could no longer use
“Gmail” for its email services based on Giersch’s trademark.”

(from http://www.thelocal.de/12667/20080623/)

Okay, I’m no German speaker, but Google Translation yeilded “and the Post is right from” when I entered “und die Post geht richtig ab, ” so I’m guessing that the german mail service is basically “G-Mail – the mails always right,” or some other positive phrase about the good quality of the companies mail service. I don’t have the exact translation, but I get the point. Its still a catchy advertising slogan, no matter what language its in. I’d actually be really interested to know how long Mr. Giersch has held the German trademark for “G-Mail.” For once, I’m actally tempted to argue that he’s got it, and that Google should simply continue calling their service “Google Mail.” Much as I like a good deal of what Google does, just because their bigger doesn’t mean they automatically get international trademarks because they want them.