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ZipZoomfly is a popular Internet retailer for computer parts and related products. Based in Newark, California, ZipZoomfly was founded in May 1999 under the name XtraPlus. The site relaunched in January 2000 as Googlegear. ZipZoomfly is a U.S. service mark of Xtraplus Corporation.
Name change
The website changed its name from Googlegear to ZipZoomfly in September 2003. The official reason given was that the online store originally intended to offer a seemingly endless variety of products (a googol of them), but had recently decided to focus on only high quality computer parts. The new name, they say, reflects the speed at which the computer industry moves.
However, the true reason was a formal complaint by Google to an ICANN domain-name dispute resolution provider.[1] The domain googlegear.com is now owned by Google, and http://www.googlegear.com redirects to a Google page explaining that Googlegear has never been associated with Google.
Perhaps coincidentally, both companies misspelled googol the same way.
Mascot
The original mascot of Googlegear was a smiling bean-shaped cartoon character as the first letter "O" in the name.[2] Named GoogleGuy, the mascot was shown giving a thumbs-up sign with one of his two floating hands. The U.S. trademark filing describes GoogleGuy as an edible nut without a shell. Nevertheless, the website claimed that GoogleGuy was neither a bean nor a pancake, but a numeral "zero" from the virtual googol of products they carried.[3]
The mascot still appears in the logo for ZipZoomfly.
References
- ^ Google, Inc. v. Xtraplus Corp (2001-05-16). WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. Case No. D2001-0125. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
- ^ U. S. Patent and Trademark Office, Retrieved on 2007-01-27
- ^ Archive.org cache of Googlegear.com, Retrieved on 2007-01-27
External links
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