A tiny social network for climbers just won a legal battle to stop Facebook from scrubbing out its name (FB)

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February 22, 2018 3:18 PM

Climbook can keep its name after a copyright battle with Facebook.

A tiny Italian social network for climbers has won a legal battle with Facebook.
Climbook can keep its name after a ruling by the Italian patent office.
Its founder, Alessandro Lamberti, said: "The giant must bow its head and we can keep our Climbook."

A tiny Italian social network for climbers has won a copyright battle against Facebook to keep its name.

The US tech giant argued that Climbook was too similar in "structural, visual, phonetic, and conceptual" design and that its services were "partly similar" to those of Facebook.

Facebook argued that this, The Local first reported, could confuse users, and it filed a complaint three years ago.

The Italian Ministry of Economic Development's patent office has now reviewed the complaint and decided that Climbook can keep operating under the same name, as per a statement published by Climbook.

The ministry ruled that it was "highly improbable" that users could confuse Facebook with Climbook, "regardless of the similarities of the services."

"Perhaps it was the arrogance of the powerful, or perhaps just a routine," said Alessandro Lamberti, the founder of Climbook. "But the fact remains that this time the giant must bow its head and we can keep our Climbook."

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