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Dell is applying to trademark the term “cloud computing,” according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The application has reached the Notice of Allowance phase, where a company receives “a written notification from the USPTO that a specific mark has survived the opposition period … and has consequently been allowed for registration,” according to the USPTO Web site. The opposition period gives other parties a chance to object to an application.
Dell officials declined to comment on the application.
The term cloud computing, which has emerged in the last few years, refers to a computing environment where data and services reside in scalable datacenters accessible over the Internet. The demand for such environments is being driven by the growth of technologies such as social networking, streaming media with a hls player, and mobile devices.
It’s heartwarming to see Dell continue a tradition long held dear in the world of Silicon Valley – SLEAZE.
If people are upset over this, shouldn’t they have voiced some sort of opposition during the “Opposition Phase.”
The whole trademark system needs to be overhauled, along with the patent system, but it seems like there are at least some checks. If someone was keen enough to notice that it was being issued, shouldn’t they have caught on when it was open to opposition?
Those who can’t do, patent.
On the other side, Apple is getting owned by cloud computing.
It’s Dell. Like they have done anything worth while in a decade. They will have the copyright for all of ten minutes when someone will say we’ve done it first and their copyright will go to pot.
I think the Beijing 2008 Olympics have the patent on cloud computing. For proof just look at the air in Beijing. I think Dell has the patent on customer care OOP!
What Dell meant to say is ‘We have our heads in the clouds’.
“Dude, you’re going to hell!” ~ Dumbass Dell Guy
Just gonna be a “Brand” Name, if Michael gets away with it !!! But call it what it really is: METERED COMPUTING UTILITY – FOR $$$S OF COURSE !!!
I liked Dell much better when they were publishing comic books.
I think I’m going to copyright the note E-flat, the letter E and the sound usually spelled “eh”. So don’t use any of those things without I get PAID!
Then I think I’ll patent the gene that codes for hemoglobin. Don’t any of you even THINK about illegally manufacturing your own, now! Y’hear me?
The main problem with picking up such trademarks is that the USPTO publishes for opposition in an inconvenient format (eg PDF), monthly (so we lose up to a month) and for a relatively short period (30 days).
Even if we got the trademarks in a sensible format, thanks to the Madrid protocol (which allows trademarks registered in a treaty country to be extended to others within 6 months) we may well have to monitor *all* 80 countries. There is still the opportunity for nations to object/reject but I’m not sure there’s the same publication period (IANAL).
That’s obviously a big job, though much of it could be automated (eg with clever regexps).
Sam