Google has put an end to a battle that began three years ago, when they found themselves in the midst of a copyright dispute in Germany due to someone already owning the Gmail trademark on that country. Google originally sought to acquire the name but has at long last conceded the fight to the original owner. They sent out an announcement today regarding their loss of the Gmail name in Germany, stating somewhat coyly that it was a "bummer" they could no longer use that name within German borders. They won't stop offering mail services to Germans, it will simply use the "Google Mail" moniker instead.
This isn't the only issue that Google has faced with Germany. The search giant also threatened to pull the plug on "Google Mail" in Germany if the country enacted strict surveillance laws that would have required them to collect private information for long periods. Even though by default Google already catalogues mail that runs through their system, they commit to not using it for any intrusive uses.