Google anger at Chinese copycat site Goojje

Google has sent a cease and desist letter to the Chinese search site Goojje, whose logo eerily resembles its own.

Goojje's logo not only has many elements of the Google logo, but also copies the paw print logo associated with Baidu, China's biggest native search engine. Goojje provides both search and social-networking services.

Google has confirmed that it's demanded the Chinese site stops aping its trademarked logo. Goojje is no longer using its original URL, www.goojje.com, but that address gives a redirect to www.dierqi.com, where it seems to be operating normally.

Strained relations

The copycat search engine is just one more in a list Google's recent Chinese woes. Last month it threatened to pull out of the country following a series of cyber attacks. These included the hacking of Gmail accounts of free speech advocates in the country. That hack was found to be due to a vulnerability in the Internet Explorer browser.

Now it has to try and stomp all over Goojje, whose name is a play on words: in Chinese the "gle" of Google sounds like the word for "older brother," while "jje" is similar to the word for "older sister."

Since China's record on intellectual property rights is spotty at best, and Google and the Chinese government still aren't best friends, it will be interesting to see what develops.

Via Reuters