US search engine Google Inc has threatened legal action against a new Chinese website for imitating its logo, news reports said Tuesday.
Google has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goojje.com, citing copyright infringement for the similarities between the start-up site and its own logo, said the Global Times daily.
The founder of Goojje, going by the pseudonym Xiao Xuan, refuted the allegations, saying that it was "unimaginable" that users could be misled to believe the two sites were linked, DPA reported.
The website had also turned down advertising and sponsoring deals, he told the Global Times, and has not profited from any similarity with Google's appearance.
Goojje.com is a social networking site with a search function which combines the hits from google.cn with those from Chinese rival search engine Baidu.
Goojje's multicoloured logo is not dissimilar to Google's own. It also includes a blue paw-mark reminiscent of the one used - and trademarked - by Baidu.
The Chinese search engine has no intention of suing Goojje, one of Baidu's legal staff was quoted as saying by the Global Times.
The new site, whose name makes it sound like Google's sister in Chinese, was launched on January 14, one day after Google announced its plans to withdraw from China. "The brother is leaving but the sister will be missing him," ran a message under its logo.
When Google said it was to keep operating in China, the message changed to "the brother stayed for the sister."
The site had 60,000 registered users on Thursday, but had been targeted by "sophisticated unidentified hackers" since that date, Xiao told the Global Times.
Google threatens Chinese "Big Sister" with legal action
