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Google Wins Lawsuit on Name, Trademark of Subsidiary in China

By Irene Shen

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the world’s most-used Internet search engine, won a lawsuit in China over its subsidiary’s name and trademark in Chinese, ending an 18- month dispute with a local company.

Google China will be paid 100,000 yuan ($14,624) in compensation from Beijing Guge Science and Technology Co., according to a filing by the Beijing Haidian District Court today.

In 2006, Google named its unit in the country “Gu Ge,” which means “harvesting song” in Chinese. A year later, Beijing Guge sued Google, claiming the Mountain View, California-based Internet company was using its name.

The court ruled that Beijing Guge must stop using the name because it belongs to Google’s China unit, according to the filing.

Google China spokeswoman Marsha Wang declined to comment. China is the world’s biggest Internet market by users.

To contact the reporter on this story: Irene Shen in Shanghai at ishen4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 04:25 EST

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