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Microsoft Will Have To Rename SkyDrive
SmartAboutThings writes "A month ago, Microsoft was involved in a legal battle in the United Kingdom, when the court found that there was a conflict between Microsoft's SkyDrive and a trademark owned by the British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB). Back then, the UK court ruled that Microsoft was infringing the BSkyB's trademark. And now we have confirmation that Microsoft will be forced to change the SkyDrive brand name. This is quite a big branding issue for Microsoft. What are they going to call it? DriveSky? And chances are that the name change will be worldwide and not only in the United Kingdom."
or just F-Drive; C and D are your disk drives; E is the USB drive; so F-Drive is the Cloud storage drive letter.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
The arrogance of a big player is punished when deserved. They certainly did have enough money to examine markets as big the UK for potential infringement of a new brand they wanted to introduce.
Data in, nothing out.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
MeTooDrive or Me2Drive. Since Microsoft only copies things that others do at this point, they should just grab the Me2 prefix to replace the G or i from all of Google's and Apple's products.
InfiniDrive! Bringing together of infinite storage, combined with infinite reliability, storage life, and ease of use. You can thank me later.
When You Need To Conquer The Sky: SpaceDrive
YOU'RE WELCOME MICROSOFT.
it's got s.k.y on it right there, tells the truth and sky-tv can't claim it.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
I guess just like gmail in Germany, where google had to make sure to always call it googlemail instead of gmail, because someone else already had the rights.
Captcha: sorrier
NSADrive !!!!!
Synonyms: blast, breath, breeze, draft, heavens, ozone, puff, sky, stratosphere, troposphere, ventilation, waft, whiff, wind, zephyr
ZephyrDrive, PuffDrive, BreezeDrive
This happened before with the XBox name. It is difficult to believe that a company like Microsoft, bolstered by batteries of lawyers with copyright, patent, and trademark expertise, could have pulled such a boneheaded move. Were they playing legal chicken with the Brits, or did they really, truly screw up?
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
Fixed with one easy change of letter: SpyDrive.
The lawyers have already cleared that.
Call it spydrive, since it will have an NSA database feed.
Monkeyboy Drive!
How about SkywalkerDrive? You should know better, John Conner (unless Darth Vader counter sues).
CloudDrive
CloudStore
NetDrive
NetStore
WebDrive
WebStore
I just pulled those out of my ass in about 30 seconds and all of them appear to be taken already, but I'm sure someone in MS marketing can come up with something original, or they can license one they like. A new name won't be a huge problem, the bigger problem is any name recognition they had is gone.
Also, DriveSky doesn't solve anything because it was the use of the word Sky in the name that caused the trademark problems.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
How many Microsoft SkyDrive users will be confused by the rename of this product and switch to Dropbox?
Both.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
how about DevNull? If they do a search into the name, I think they will find that there is nothing there.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
done
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(satellite)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
What is interesting is that BSkyB doesn't have a "SkyDrive" product but many products named "Sky" that are in the same product category.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
RupertMurdochIsanArseDrive
Microsoft Cloud Drive Storage Home Edition
Microsoft Cloud Drive Storage Premium Edition
Microsoft Cloud Drive Storage Enterprise Edition
VaporDrive
>chances are that the name change will be worldwide and not only in the United Kingdom
I doubt that very much.
Most linux users don't know this, but the man pages were named after Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris fsck'ing hates noobs!
Microsoft must have realized that arguing "Sky" is a generic word, so is "Windows". That means they'd be shooting themselves in the foot by arguing that Sky (and thus Windows) isn't trademark-able.
Or possibly AllURfilesRBlong2USdrive.net
I guess Bing didn't find it.
I might understand that the link to this http://wind8apps.com/microsoft-will-have-to-rename-skydrive-bskyb-wins-legal-battle/ was removed because it was not the first source, indeed. But I can not understand why you deleted it and put GeekWire instead :|
I would suggest they use something fitting for the level of trust I have for them: XKeyscore
SkypeDrive - Since Sky already tried, but failed, to sue Skype for the same thing.
SkyDrive was way too fancy for them anyway. Based on coopting the windowing concept and calling it Windows, or Word (I forget what that does) something like...Cloud.
Ya that's it. Hurry up and trademark Cloud, Microsoft.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Weesh... weesh... we should name it Bob! ', the intern suggested loudly with unbridled enthusiasm.
Remember the GMail trademark in Germany? No name change outside the trademark's country.
WinDrive
What about Skype?
It's old and established name for a product but it's run by Microsoft now, are they forced to rebrand it too?
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
Why do I see all of the anti-MS posts? Yeah, MS has been a bastard many times, but to be swatted because they dared to use the term "sky" for their product when some other company that doesn't make anything close to the same product also used "sky" in their names is asinine. I'm sure Sky has been used in product names and company names before bskyb. You're an idiot if you think this is just fine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abFJuqp867g
Drive of Sauron
Does anybody still use Skydrive?
Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress
I'm seeing a bit too much anti-Microsoft bias here. If we weren't talking about Microsoft I'm pretty sure we'd all be outraged by that court's decision, especially given the reaction on Slashdot to similar cases in the past.
Where was Microsoft irresponsible here? Who in their right mind would have thought that SkyDrive infringed on British Sky Broadcasting Group? Does any company or service with "sky" in the name also infringe? What about SkyTrain? Or Delta Sky Miles?
I fail to see how Microsoft did anything wrong here.
I've done naming for companies in the past and it can be an excruciating process. I'm pretty sure a company as big as Microsoft isn't cavalier about naming. If my clients are any indication, their own lawyers are a huge pain in the ass for the internet teams to deal with. They're specifically paid to be thorough and attuned to every little risk. I can't imagine how much more difficult it will be now coming up with a new name with the heightened sensitivity to even the remotest of infringement. I certainly wouldn't want to be on that naming team.
Just add Microsoft in front. That is the only way they got away with Windows.
They will buy BSkyB, keep calling SkyDrive SkyDrive, and then kill BSkyB.
'Once scientists, even the dim-witted social scientists, get muzzled, the Western Civilization is finished.' - oldhack
We watch as you drive.
This is Slasdot!
Hater of all things mainstream or useful.
Who will back the F up?
If you cancel your F drive, did you get the F out?
Don't you mean Sky.NET?
/* No Comment */
...cause nobody outside of the UK gives a shit about Sky, and I am sure a few in the UK feel the same way.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
They could go with the highly successful WindowsRT campaign and call it "DriveRT"
Murdoch couldn't challenge the name Skynet without him becoming an enemy target to assassinate for the self aware skynet network.
No amount of money can stop a bus load of nukes heading to news corp..
Just call it Bob. Where is the file? Bob has it. Bring the files with you. No worries, Bob will.
Nope, that's the brand name of that new flying car on display at Airventure this week.
"This is quite a big branding issue for Microsoft."
Oh yeah, I'm sure the owners of hotmail.com/live.com/outlook.com, MSN Search/Windows Live Search/Bing, and MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger/Office Communicator/Lync are lying in bed awake at night over this.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Call it DevNull. Because that's what will eventually happen when you store your data "in the cloud".
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
MS had quite a catchy name there. I do find it odd that the article said nothing about Sky Broadcasting having a trademark on (or even using) "SkyDrive" - it seems that they're claiming ownership over anything with the word "sky" in it, and that MS is conceding. Yikes.
with a name like that, it must be good!
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
...and tell the UK court to go fuck itself? Seriously, let's say they rename it to DriveSky. Then they find out in Russia there is a Drivesky cloud storage company. Doh! Change the name again. then there's a conflict in another country, then another. then another. Fuck this ridiculously complicated shit.
What about MS Cloud? That matches their Word processor.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Is IoneSkyeDrive taken?
Seems to have worked before
MurdochCanBlowMeDrive.co.uk
No. Just no. We need to call it DriveBy. After all, if anyone complains - Microsoft can show lots of prior art on drive by downloads of malware.
Windows, Word. SQL Server,..
I suggest "Microsoft Cloud".
I know we all hate MS here, but doesn't it worry you that you can't have a product name with the word Sky in it.
I mean if MS renamed themselves to SkySoft or something maybe...and even then...
Seems like we just gave this company a bunch of free publicity that wasn't actually being harmed. Was anyone confused by the names?
They will just call it The Cloud and take advantage of all the free material advertising use of "The Cloud". Think of all the presentations you've seen with "The Cloud" - yup, that is Microsoft! Kind of like they did with "SQL Server" back in the day.
Microsoft has also been ordered by the court to rename its internet conferencing product Skype, due to the Sky trademark. This also halted Microsoft's ingenious solution to change the name Skydrive to Skypedrive.
How about SkyDive? As in, what their relevance in the tech industry is doing.
sig: sauer
The Sky is falling! The Sky is falling!
Nice - funniest comment I've seen all week :-)
It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said.
Skyfall... as in the James Bond movie :D
What Sky is contesting isn't a trademark on "SkyDrive", but on "SkyWhateverYouPutHere", much like Apple argued over iWhatever. This is just ridiculous...
And all the insults are implied when the NS@ see the content on the F(#%$)-drive ;-P
In other news: Rupert starts suing airlines.
Microsoft vs Murdoch
One of those court cases you'd like both to lose - and one where you don't mind the lawyers leeching off their funds.
Now if only it had dragged on longer we may have seen both sides suffering from, and distracted by, the case.
To remain consistent Microsoft will have to reverse all names to keep it's brand strategy. CEO MerBall, who has taken charge of the One Xbox he is trying to sell, will still try not to be your typical DRM laden, Soft Micro computer dealer. He is hard as nails in charting his org and it is a surprise with the mainstay of his operations, Swodniw and all of the 365 Office subscriptions customers want to buy, instead of own, he is still on top. No real reason as to why he would rename Windows so close to the arch villan Snowden, maybe to show that he is still hip with the younger generation? Remember Soft Micro has changed. :/
Society use your Sciences
SPYDRIVE should be a hip moniker
In soviet russia, drivesky.
SnowdenDrive. In honor of the guy who revealed it's main purpose.
Google had a similar problem with Gmail in the UK, so called it Googlemail in that territory. After a while they came to some kind of agreement with the name owner and were able to use Gmail.
How about "Cumulodumbass"?
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
What else?
...... So how exactly is it a "me too" service?
You're right. They should call it suck my Ballmer drive.
We're selling it in he UK. And its sort of cloud-like. So lets call it London Fog.
Have gnu, will travel.
LiveDrive? Or the Windows 8 version... WhyDrive?
How about something much more fitting:
Spydrive
Please stop encouraging M$ marketing nut jobs to spoil my nick again.
Introducing Microsoft's Whispy, your data may or may not be there, but thanks for your money.
very appropriate, don't you think :)
How about NSA drive?