AS BMW Stirs Up Google's Alphabet Soup, Is It Clash or Wrath of the Titans?

by Benson Agoha | Big Business

A may be for ALPHABET, but it seems that Google's new Holding Company, announced on Monday, is headed for a collision with another global brand - or so it appears.

According to Industry Week (Wednesday) BMW, Germany's premier luxury car brand reacted Tuesday, to Google's announcement, saying they are to check for possible trade mark implications of the use of the name `Alphabet' by Google's new parent company.

BMW said Alphabet is a registered name of one of it's subsidiaries. Effectively, it exposes what may result in a potential law suit or referral to the Industrial Court for adjudication.

Those familiar with similar situations say, if the issue is not resolved amicably between the two companies, the Court will be looking to see if the use of the name by Google violates, or infringes on the trade marks of BMW's subsidiary.

Any clash, by way evidence of trademarks infringements may result in a decision that will see Google ordered to drop the name, choose a new name for its new holding outfit, or simply be referred to by its new registration number.

Beyond this unexpected challenge, Google's new changes were manifestly well articulated and implemented - almost seamlessly.

The changes were so organic, so smooth and so sleekly carried out. And, without much pre-action hypes that often trail such changes,  leader in internet technology and controller one of the popular and most lucrative search engines carried out what most organisations would have spent massively on.

The shake-up had many industry watchers spell-bound and threw up some rather unexpected surprises - yet the industry has remained calm weathering the news with optimism.

Two days after the announcement, Googles share price has remained stable on the Nasdaq. The community rating remain bullish at 89% after 62 ratings. Such is the strength of consumer confidence on the brand and the management.

It's traded last price on the Nasdaq on Tuesday was $690.30 a change of +$27.16 or 4.10% over the previous day. Some say it was $690.92 gaining it +$27.88 or 4.2% over the previous day. It is expected to consolidate as markets open for Wednesday.

Not even the appointment of Sundar Pichai as Google's new CEO dampened investors confidence in the company. And the revelation that Larry Page and co-founder Brine remain close nearby is stabilizing.

But with respect to Alphabet, what seemed like an overlap may very well be an issue. BMW's subsidiary has the Internet domain name www.alphabet.com, while Google's new parent company has the address www.abc.xyz. Not bad, you would say.

Still, according to BMW spokeswoman who told German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche: "It'll be necessary to examine the legal trademark implications," stressing that this would be a "routine procedure".

According to Industry Week report, BMW said it had not been contacted by Google before the surprise announcement of the new parent company.

BMW, Audi and Daimler, recently teamed up to buy digital mapping service HERE, which is a competitor of Google Maps, for 2.8 billion euros ($3.1 billion) (£2 billion) from Nokia.

* By Benson Agoha (with contribution from Industry Week).