Deutsche Telekom has lost its fight for patent protection for the 'Gelbe Seiten' brand, a report from Die Welt said.
The report said the German patent office, after examining the case for around two years, had declared that other providers of industry directories might use the terms 'Gelbe Seiten' and 'Yellow Pages.'
DeTeMedien, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, had previously demanded exclusive use of the terms.
According to one media report, Deutsche Telekom had launched more than a dozen legal battles in the past two years against internet service provider GoYellow for alleged infringement of trademark rights, the Die Welt report said.