E-envoy courts legal trouble with e-government initiative

UK e-envoy Alex Allan has walked into a row with ISP UK Online over plans to launch a government Web portal with the same name.

The ISP claims the government's UK Online initiative is too similar in brand, domain address and logo to its own name. "This could be very damaging to my business," said Grahame Davis, managing director of EasyNet Group, which owns UK Online.

Allan announced his plans on Monday claiming the site will "bring together all the ideas and initiatives for e-government and push them forward into a coherent strategy".

But Davis doesn't share that view. "This could be equally damaging to the government," he said. "Aside from any legal issues that may or may not arise, our content may not be appropriate to people looking for the government portal."

Davis claims consumers could easily get confused between the ISP's site at www.ukonline.co.uk and the government portal at www.ukonline.gov.uk when it launches in July.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said Easynet had been informed in advance of Monday's announcement. "The brand was chosen after extensive market research," he said, " we won't be competing with UK Online the ISP."

Representatives from UK Online and Easynet will meet with Allan next week to discuss the issue, they also hope e-minister Patricia Hewitt will attend. The ISP hopes it can convince the government to change the name and the logo.

Easynet's Davis added: "In terms of 'passing off' we can't claim for damages until it has actually launched, but we are taking legal advice."