The European Union's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market has rejected Google's attempt to register Gmail as a European trademark.

The entity ruled that the Gmail trademark will stay with its current owner, German-born venture capitalist Daniel Giersch, who has owned it since 2001, reports the Register (U.K.). Google has been in discussions with him since 2004, but they have been unable to come to terms.

Giersch had already won legal victories last year, thanks to rulings from a district court in Hamburg. Google was ordered to remove all Gmail references from its German service. After the rulings, Giersch announced he had filed lawsuits to defend more recent registrations of the trademark in Switzerland, Norway and Monaco.

Google's stance has been that the two names are not confusingly similar. The company offered Giersch $250,000 for the trademark rights, which he declined. He said Google's behavior has been "very threatening, very aggressive and very unfaithful."