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TECHNOLOGY

BMW may have rights to Google’s new name

Germany's BMW said Tuesday it was checking the "trademark implications" of Google naming its new parent company Alphabet, which is the registered name of one of the carmaker's subsidiaries.

Published: 12 August 2015 08:19 CEST
BMW may have rights to Google's new name
Photos: DPA

Internet giant Google has founded Alphabet as a holding company to group its search engine and other projects such as research arm X Lab, investment unit Google Ventures and health and science operations.

The move surprised Munich-based BMW, which has for years run a subsidiary with the same name that provides corporate car fleet services.

It has the Internet domain name www.alphabet.com while Google's new parent company has the address www.abc.xyz.

“It'll be necessary to examine the legal trademark implications,” a BMW spokeswoman told German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche. She repeated the comment to AFP, stressing that this would be a “routine procedure”.

BMW said it had not been contacted by Google before the surprise announcement of the new parent company.

BMW along with Germany's Audi and Daimler announced on Monday that they had teamed up to buy digital mapping service HERE, a competitor of Google Maps, for €2.8 billion from Nokia.

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LIVING IN FRANCE

France to roll out ID cards app

Technology is being rolled out to allow people to carry their French ID cards in an app form - and could be rolled out to other cards, including driving licences and cartes de séjour residency cards.

Published: 4 May 2022 11:24 CEST
France to roll out ID cards app

Holders of French carte d’identité (ID cards) will soon be able to carry certified digital versions of them on their smartphone or other electronic devices, a decree published in the Journal Officiel has confirmed.

An official app is being developed for holders of the newer credit card-format ID cards that have information stored on a chip. A provisional test version of the app is expected at the end of May.

Users will be able to use the ID card app, when it becomes available, for a range of services “from checking in at the airport to renting a car”, according to Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market.

All French citizens have an ID card, which can be used for proving identity in a range of circumstances and for travel within the EU and Schengen zone – the new app will be in addition to the plastic card that holders already have.

Under the plans, after downloading the app, card holders will need merely to hold the card close to their phone to transfer the required information. According to officials, the holder then can decide what information is passed on – such as proof of age, or home address – according to the situation.

The government has not given any examples of situations in which the app would need to be used, but has set out the main principles and the ambition of the plan: to allow everyone to identify themselves and connect to certain public and private organisations, in particular those linked to the France Connect portal.

READ ALSO What is France Connect and how could it make your life simpler?

Cards will continue to be issued for the foreseeable future – this is merely an extension of the existing system.

Only French citizens have ID cards, but if successful the app is expected to be rolled out to include other cards, such as driving licences, cartes de séjour residency cards or even visas. A digital wallet is being developed at the European level – Member States have until September to agree what it could contain.

READ ALSO Eight smartphone apps that make life in France a bit easier

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