The Google news was announced in a blog by CEO Larry Page, who said: “Our company is operating well today, but we think we can make it cleaner and more accountable. So we are creating a new company, called Alphabet (http://abc.xyz).”

“Alphabet Inc. will replace Google Inc. as the publicly-traded entity and all shares of Google will automatically convert into the same number of shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights. Google will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Our two classes of shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq as GOOGL and GOOG.”

He added: “This new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google."

Page also said that he and co-founder Sergey Brin liked the name Alphabet “because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity's most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search! We also like that it means alpha-bet (Alpha is investment return above benchmark), which we strive for! I should add that we are not intending for this to be a big consumer brand with related products – the whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands.”

In response, Alphabet, which also runs a number of electric vehicle solutions including AlphaElectric, has released a statement saying: “The website www.alphabet.com is owned by BMW Group, Alphabet’s parent company.”

Although Google has secured the ‘abc.xyz’ domain for its new parent company, BMW’s alphabet.com website was hit by a traffic overload following the Google announcement.

Alphabet added that it is currently reviewing the trademark concerns.

Although it is possible for two companies to operate with the same trading name, this is only the case when there is no possibility of confusion, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. However, Google does have automotive connections in the form of its Android Auto connected cars technology and its research into self-driving vehicles.

As reported by the New York Times, there is a large number of SMEs that may be impacted by the name change. Other firms using the Alphabet moniker in the US include Alphabet Funds on Wall Street, Alphabet Energy in Hayward, California; the Alphabet Record Company in Austin, Texas; Alphabet Plumbing in Prescott, Arizona; and many other small businesses.