Australia's Groggle goes down in Google fight

To Australian entrepreneur Cameron Collie, Groggle seemed the perfect name for a website comparing the price of alcohol, or 'grog' as it is known Down Under, at nearby bottleshops.

Web Goliath Google, however, felt differently.

Now, after a six-month legal tussle, Collie has changed the name of his business, which hopes to show customers where to find their neighbourhood's cheapest liquor, to Drinkle.

"I can't kind of get into the specifics because we had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (with Google)," Collie told The Sydney Morning Herald website on Wednesday.

"But essentially the settlement -- the end result of the settlement -- is us changing our name."

Collie was unable to reveal whether the settlement, reached in October, involved money but said he was "just happy that it's over".

But earlier, on social networking site Twitter, the Groggle account suggested the entrepreneur could be drinking to the outcome.

"Groggle as a name is no more and we have settled with Google," read one tweet, the Herald said.

It was followed by one saying the 'ex-Groggle' team would drink a bottle of Australia's most expensive beer, Foster's limited-edition 70-US-dollar Crown Ambassador, to celebrate.

Collie said he expected the new Drinkle site would be ready by early 2011.

"I still maintain that I don't think that there would have been any confusion in the marketplace," he added.

(c) 2010 AFP