The US Patent and Trademark Office has denied Dell’s request to trademark the term “cloud computing,” according to
Sam Johnston [1], who has been closely tracking the Dell application process (link via
The Wisdom of Clouds [2]). Johnston says the USPTO has issued a “non-final action” that denies the application, ruling that the term cloud computing is “a descriptive term of art in the relevant industry” and also “generic in connection with the identified services and, therefore, incapable of functioning as a source-identifier for applicant’s services.” Dell has the option of filing a response to submit arguments to dispute the USPTO examiner’s findings. See the case file
here [3] and the Aug. 12 document “Offc Action Outgoing.”
Dell’s move to
trademark cloud computing [4] created a storm of controversy when it became public. One reason for Dell to seek a trademark application is the fact that the company owns the domain cloudcomputing.com, which was registered on Feb. 28, 2007. The ICANN process for resolving domain name disputes has historically favored trademark holders. For additional background, see coverage from
The Industry Standard [5],
Cnet [6] and
Slashdot [7].
Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.
Article printed from Data Center Knowledge: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com
URL to article: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/08/17/dell-loses-bid-to-trademark-cloud-computing/
URLs in this post:
[1] Sam Johnston: http://samj.net/2008/08/dell-denied-cloud-computing-both.html
[2] The Wisdom of Clouds: http://blog.jamesurquhart.com/2008/08/cloud-computing-set-free-dell.html
[3] here: http://tmportal.uspto.gov/external/portal/tow?SRCH=Y&isSubmitted=true&details=&SELECT=US+Serial+No&TEXT=77139082#
[4] trademark cloud computing: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/Aug/04/dell_seeks_trademark_for_cloud_computing.html
[5] The Industry Standard: http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/08/01/dell-has-applied-trademark-term-cloud-computing
[6] Cnet: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10011577-38.html?part=rss&subj=news
[7] Slashdot: http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/02/2224217
[8] Rich Miller: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/author/richm/
Click here to print.
