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

Reuters

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

• 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.
• Founder Alessandro Lamberti said: "The giant must bow its head and we can keep our Climbook."

A tiny Italian social network for climbers, called Climbook, 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.

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This, The Local first reported, could create confusion users, which prompted Facebook to file 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 itself.

Climbook

Climbook's statement on its legal battle with Facebook.

The ministry ruled that it is "highly improbable" that users could find confusion between Facebook and 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."