GAILILEO OK

The IPKat is grateful to George Godar for tipping him off about the CFI’s Galileo decision (available only in French). Galileo International Technology, the airline reservation system, argued that the use by the European Space Agency of the name Galileo for its GPS satellite infringed the airline reservation system’s trade mark. The legality of the Commission’s choice was challenged before the CFI, but the CFI found that the Commission had not acted illegally. There was no likelihood of confusion because the Commission was not selling services from the satellite. Moreover, the airline reservation system had exposed itself to likely problems by choosing the name of a famous scientist. The CFI said:

“in choosing the Galileo name to designate their brands, products and services, the plaintiff could not ignore that they were inspired by the first name of the famous Italian mathematician, physician and astronomer, one of the largest personalities in European scientific culture.''

The IPKat reckons this sounds right. If you choose to go by the name of a famous person, you should bear the consequences.

More details here.