MOSCOW, January 18 - RAPSI. Weblink has appealed a recent judgment banning the company from using domain names googl.ru and gugl.ru, the Moscow Commercial Court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Friday.

In November, the court held for Google in its claim to protect its exclusive right to the Google trademark, in turn banning the defendant from using similar domain names.

The plaintiff's representative stated during the hearing that Google launched its operations in 1998, whereas the defendant only acquired the domain names in the summer of 2011. The names appear and sound similar to the plaintiff's trademark, he said.

However, the defendant's lawyer rejected the claim, stating that this resemblance needs to be confirmed by experts.

Google's attorney argued during the hearing that experts had established that the names are confusingly similar. Meanwhile, the defense argued that one expert conclusion had to be excluded from consideration as violations were made when it was compiled.

Google secured interim relief from the court in the form of a prohibition on Weblink's transfer of the googl.ru and gugl.ru rights to a third party.

Google is the world's largest Internet company. Its US GAAP net income rose 15% to $9.74 billion in 2011.