Chinese Company Takes Google to Court

BEIJING — A Chinese company has taken Google's China operations to court over what it says is an infringement of the Chinese translation of its name, "Guge," according to court documents.

Beijing Guge Sci-Tech Co. was officially registered at the Beijing Municipal Industrial and Commercial Bureau on April 19, 2006, but Google didn't register the name "Guge" in China until Nov. 24 of that year, according to court arguments that began in Beijing this week,

Beijing Guge Sci-Tech says the name has led to confusion and hurt its business.

Guge Sci-Tech wants Google change its Chinese name and pay legal costs, according to court documents. No specific sum was mentioned.

Google said that when Beijing Guge Sci-Tech registered its name there were already reports on the Internet that Google was going to use the Chinese name "Guge," according to court documents.

Google says the name "Guge," which is not a Chinese word, was created by the Beijing-based company. The Chinese characters mean "valley" and "song."

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