BMW owns Alphabet and has no intentions to sell it to Google

It seems Google should have done some more research via their own search engine before zeroing down on a new name for their holding company – Alphabet Inc. The tech giant had recently announced a new structure according to which a new parent company by the name Alphabet has been formed which will act as an umbrella company counting Google and a growing range of other businesses as its subsidiaries.  

But according to reports, the company has already run into a snag with its new name as car manufacturer BMW owns the domain Alphabet.com - and it has no plans to put it up on sale. BMW claims to operate a fleet service by the name of Alphabet. The auto maker also owns the domain Alphabet.com.

BMW could cause a problem if it decides to sue Alphabet for trademark infringement. According to trademark infringement law, two companies can use the same trademark as long as there is no scope for any confusion in the minds of the customers. While Google’s Alphabet deals primarily in internet and other wide range of services, BMW’s alphabet deals with service packages to corporations with vehicle fleets.

While BMW is a luxury carmaker, we all know that Google has introduced self-driving cars. Hence, the possibility of confusion in the minds of the customers cannot be ruled out completely. If BMW files a suite against Google it will be interesting to know who wins this battle.