Dell Loses Bid To Trademark "Cloud Computing"

1sockchuck writes "The USPTO has issued a 'non-final determination' refusing Dell's request to trademark the term 'cloud computing' (we discussed the application earlier), finding that the term is generic and 'therefore incapable of functioning as a source-identifier for applicant's services.' According to Data Center Knowledge, 'Dell has the option of filing a response to submit arguments to dispute the USPTO examiner's findings.'" Here is the USPTO's ruling. A week and a half ago the PTO cancelled its 'notice of allowance' for the mark, a move little remarked upon at the time.

Comments

Humanity

[bigtallmofo]

Does it make anyone else sad when they think that there are fellow members of our race that would patent breathing if they could and would idly watch people that couldn't afford to pay their licensing fees suffocate?

Re:Humanity

[PPH]

Better yet: Patent farting and wait for them to explode.

Re:Humanity

[msu320]

i've looked through my file and found you are in violation of my patent on the inhalation of air. please stop stifling innovation and pay my royalties you freedom hating commie.

"Uh, prior art." - God

Re:Humanity

[Renraku]

Maybe it'll come to that one day. Look at what Monsanto pulls. Trust me, if Monsanto had their way, they'd own all food production in the US. Then they'd jack the prices up 50x, since its been shown that we Americans have enough disposable income to be able to make it to work and back when gas prices rise 400% in two years.

1. Plant a field of GM crops.

2. Test neighbor's crops for patented GM markers.

3. Sue neighbor when nature spreads the GM genetic markers to other fields.

4. Profit, force neighbor to burn their crops.

5. Buy out their field and plant a field of GM crops, watch his neighbors get nervous.

Re:Humanity

[AuMatar]

google terms: monsanto sue neighboring field

results:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Corporations/PSchmeiser_Monsanto.html

Googling for the litigant (Percy Schmeiser) brings multiple sources for the lawsuit, including wikipedia

too bad

[schnikies79]

If they got it, no one else could use this worthless buzzword. Now everyone has a chance to launch cloud computing on the web 2.0 while hyping it in the blogosphere.

*Sigh*

Re:too bad

[hack slash]

"blogosphere"

Another term as bad as "cloud computing".

Re:too bad

[jlarocco]

"Cloud computing" is the "web 2.0" buzzword for "Internet". It's used primarily to confuse investors and venture capitalists who remember how poorly the "... on the internet" fad turned out in the late 90s.

The other words were made up to help solidify the illusion that "cloud computing" is something new.

WtF

[dr_turgeon]

I work for a company (a bank) that seems to apply a trade/service-mark to random word combos in at least every third or forth sentence of any marketing--even internal materials. I envisage a child claiming "mine" all the time or using a label maker ad nauseam.

Re:Next trademark attempt - Clod Computing

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a clod, you insensitive... um...

Not quite so sudden

[FilterMapReduce]

This article is tagged "suddenoutbreakofcommonsense", but U.S. trademark law is typically endowed with a little more common sense (a little) than copyrights and patents, the other major areas of IP law. For example, how trademarks can only be held so long as they're actually in use. Compare this to copyrights applying for the life of the author plus seventy years; as a result, abandonware sites can and often are prevented from providing software titles years after the publishers have ever tried to make them available for a profit, or at all.

I expected that Dell would lose this ridiculous trademark bid and I'm pleased that the USPTO acted appropriately. Nonetheless, I'm sure that my fellow Slashdotters will be all too happy to expose my ignorance by providing plenty of counterexamples of trademark-related idiocy.

I can confirm this as well

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in Illinois and several friends have been threatened by Monsanto over their crops having illegal plants. They tell us that if we buy Monsanto's seed we won't have to worry about being sued, but if we don't, "something could happen, these plants can spread, and you won't be legal". They make it sound like the burden is on the farmers to ensure their crops don't "infringe" rather than Monsanto making sure their modified product can't spread.

Posting anonymously because I don't care to be sued.

Re:I can confirm this as well

[KGIII]

After having been through the area - I'll take 'legal' blame and fight that one in a heart beat. They tried that up here in Maine and got their asses handed to them. They're the makers of Round-Up and Agent Orange as I recall?

Maine doesn't have as many potato acres as Idaho but I guess we're second. They tried similar crap up in Houlton, Maine (way up north) and got tossed out on their asses. Sort of like the RIAA got tossed out. We're not a commonwealth but we seem to treat out of staters that way.

Illinois and Indiana both had strange signs marking the brand of crop they were growing, that was odd to me but then we went west. I'd never seen that before.

GM foods have a place, I think that place is in the bellies of hungry people or people who opt to eat it. My understanding is that they have things like the golden seed which will grow fricken rice in the damned near desert but it is unaffordable and doesn't germinate.

So, yeah. Post non-AC and blame it on me. Say I stole control of your PC... They can ask /. and they can give 'em my IP and they can come try that here in Maine. Potato, blueberry, and timber is all we have left. They, like the RIAA, were tossed out on their arses. I was amused.