Google defeats UK trademark lawsuit over YouTube Shorts name

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab on Thursday defeated a trademark lawsuit brought by a British short film company over YouTube's short video platform Shorts, with London's High Court ruling there was no risk of confusion for consumers.

Shorts International, which runs a television channel devoted to short films, sued the tech giant last year, accusing Google of infringing its trademark over the word "shorts".

Google-owned YouTube had launched Shorts, featuring minute-long videos, in late 2020 as it struggled to compete with TikTok.

Google's lawyer Lindsay Lane argued in court documents at a trial earlier this month that it was "abundantly clear" that the Shorts platform came from YouTube, not Shorts International.

Judge Michael Tappin said in a written ruling that none of Google's uses of the word "shorts" would lead to any likelihood of confusion as to the origin of the platform.

He also said that Google and YouTube's use of the word "will not cause damage to the distinctive character or repute of (Shorts International's) trade marks" and dismissed the lawsuit.

Google and Shorts International did not immediately respond to a request for comment.