iCloud Communications Files Suit Against Apple Over 'iCloud' Name

[chaosconan]

iSpaceship is the new HQ.... shhhhh.... don't tell anyone!

Hmmm. Could it be! Could it be that Steve Job is an Alien from outer space, and he started this company called Apple to make money to build this huge SpaceShip which he so calls it a Campus to fool us all. Once the construction is complete, he's going to take off in it and leave us behind and only take with him his loyal followers.

 

[Yamcha]

Well the company has been around since 1985, which as far as I know was before the time Apple was putting I's before most of their products..

I don't know how this could harm the company, I think it would draw more attention to it right? perhaps the wrong type of attention though..

 

[apolloa]

Sorry... not to play armchair lawyer, but from what I know of trademarks, names have become so hard to come by that it is allowed for two companies to use the same name as long as it's a different industry. Or, unless they register the name to protect it more.

I'd say it's up in the air (or cloud) as to what will happen.

But to claim damage (like they are) is silly. It's free publicity. And they didn't see this coming??? If they are so close in service (as they claim) don't you think with a name like iCloud (or "i" anything) you'd keep an eye on Apple. Of course you would. And of course... if you really cared you would have said something before launch.... but if you want to profit, you wait.

How do we NOT know that they have started legal proceedings when the iCloud Apple service was first brought to their attention? I'm pretty sure it takes a very long time to do anything legally about this hence why it's only just being reported..
And Apple do NOT have a right to every iNAME on existence just when it feels like it!!

And flip this around, Apple also has no right to the 'App Store' term but I bet you defend them trying to stop Amazon using the term eh? One rule for Apple, another for everyone else?

 

[0815]

Hmmmmm:

Since 1985, iCloud Communications has been a local and long distance telephone provider. In this new era of broadband technology, iCloud has launched the most comprehensive, flexible and cost-efficient broadband telephone service available today. The iCloud package provides both business and residential customers with Fortune 500 technology and functionality ~ all at a significant cost savings over traditional phone companies.

http://geticloud.com/why_icloud.html

If I built up a company over 26 years and another IT business just decided to use MY company name without asking me I'd be pretty pissed off too ... the name was trademarked (in the US) by some other company and Apple just bought the right to use it from them.

I'm sorry but Apple cannot simply just bully it's way to calling it's products and service i-whatever regardless if someone is already using said name.

Interesting, 26 year old tech company with superior technology (or whatever Fortune 500 technology means) ... but still failed at basic business setup like protecting the own name ... There is/was no legal trace of any other company having the 'right' to that name. Appel bought the name from the legal owner, end of story.

 

[lilo777]

I see a pattern here

First it was iPhone, then iOS and now iCloud. Apple is just an unethical company.

 

[chaosconan]

Well the company has been around since 1985, which as far as I know was before the time Apple was putting I's before most of their products..

I don't know how this could harm the company, I think it would draw more attention to it right? perhaps the wrong type of attention though..

Thats true. IBM has there "e" as in eServer and eBusiness.
Microsoft has their "x" as in ActiveX, DirectX and XBox.
So, why can't Apple have their "i"s. It's only fair!!!

We still have 23 letters left in the alphabet system that other companies can choose from!!!

 

[0815]

First it was iPhone, then iOS and now iCloud. Apple is just an unethical company.

yes - very unethical to give the legal owner of a name a boatload of cash for the right to use the name. Really bad.

 

[lilo777]

yes - very unethical to give the legal owner of a name a boatload of cash for the right to use the name. Really bad.

Are you suggesting that Apple should pay to iCloud Communications?

 

[0815]

Are you suggesting that Apple should pay to iCloud Communications?

No - they are not the legal owners of the name .... PART of their name was trademarked (in the US and other countries) by some other company. "iCloud Communications" failed to trademark their name and any parts of their name. They had 26 years to do it, but didn't.

 

[TheAppleDragon]

Dear iCloud Communications,

It was announced days in advance that Apple's iCloud is real, you should have sued then. Now you're begging for attention.

Please shut up and join the crowd. I can't think of one unheard-of company that sued Apple that managed to get much *worthwhile* attention from it.

Thanks,

TAD~

 

[0815]

Dear iCloud Communications,

It was announced days in advance that Apple's iCloud is real, you should have sued then. Now you're begging for attention.

Please shut up and join the crowd. I can't think of one unheard-of company that sued Apple that managed to get much attention from it.

Thanks,

TAD~

preparing legal documents takes time (as Apple shows in many occasions) ... so that they sued a couple of days/weeks after initial rumors does not matter. But they should have protected their name 26 years ago when they started their telefon provider business (or at least once it was sure they stay in business). No it's to late.

 

[chaosconan]

preparing legal documents takes time (as Apple shows in many occasions) ... so that they sued a couple of days/weeks after initial rumors does not matter. But they should have protected their name 26 years ago when they started their telefon provider business (or at least once it was sure they stay in business). No it's to late.

How come they didn't sue Xcerion when they used iCoud? Is it because Xcerion didn't apply for the trademark?

 

[lilo777]

Can't Apple come up with something original for a chance?

Apple started their life in business by hijacking well established name of a British company. How many trademarks have they bought since then? It seems like they are impotent to come up with something new.

 

[farleysmaster]

preparing legal documents takes time (as Apple shows in many occasions) ... so that they sued a couple of days/weeks after initial rumors does not matter. But they should have protected their name 26 years ago when they started their telefon provider business (or at least once it was sure they stay in business). No it's to late.

I think it's fairly unlikely they used the iCloud name 26 years ago, just because they've been trading for 26 years...

 

[0815]

How come they didn't sue Xcerion when they used iCoud? Is it because Xcerion didn't apply for the trademark?

As I said: they don't have any right on the name because they didn't trademark it. The big difference now is that they hope to get some kind of money in an out of court settlement to make them shut up.

I think it's fairly unlikely they used the iCloud name 26 years ago, just because they've been trading for 26 years...

Agreed - but whenever they started using that name for their business they should have protected it as every other good business does. I couldn't find any information yet to when they started using that name ...

 

[chaosconan]

Apple started their life in business by hijacking well established name of a British company. How many trademarks have they bought since then? It seems like they are impotent to come up with something new.

It's not hijacking. The british company is called "Apple Records" or it's parent "Apple Corps", totally different from "Apple Inc".

And their apple is green

where apple's apple is colored

 

[Dr McKay]

Im seeing a lot of horrible opinions on here.

Basically that Apple should have ownership of everything starting with "i".
When will Steve Jobs sue the Prime Minister of iTaly? Or iCeland? Or iReland?

Apple should just be given the claim to iCloud because

A. They're Apple
B. They'll do something better with it (I dont care if they do, this isnt how this works)


"Apple should just buy".... As usual.

So why now? Apple made it no secret that they were branding their upcoming cloud service as icloud. It seems to me that this company could have approached Apple before the official announcement. It seems the only benefit of waiting is that the news is more dramatic after the official announcement and that equals greater publicity.

Only someone who hangs around on Tech sites would have known about iCloud before it was released. Hell, these people might not have found out about it until after WWDC when all the news sites started reporting it.

 

[chaosconan]

They should rewrite the trademark rules!

The new trademark rule should consist of a LOGO + TEXT instead of what we have right now which is just a text.
So, if you have the same TEXT but differing LOGO you are not violating any trademark. Problem solved, simple as that!!!

 

[sboultbee]

Agreed - but whenever they started using that name for their business they should have protected it as every other good business does. I couldn't find any information yet to when they started using that name ...

According to the State of Arizona, iCloud Communications, LLC wasn't formed until 2005. They must have been operating under a different business structure with a different name from 1985 - 2005 if their website is accurate.

http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=L11997082&type=L.L.C.

 

[Tonewheel]

Good stuff! Loving these unknowing legal opinions based upon _____________ .

 

[chaosconan]

If I start a company called Dark Apple and have the following as my LOGO would that be violating any trademark?

 

[lilo777]

It's not hijacking. The british company is called "Apple Records" or it's parent "Apple Corps", totally different from "Apple Inc".

And their apple is green

Image

where apple's apple is colored

Image

So different indeed. And that is why Apple sued Australian grocery store for having "identical" logo:

BTW, is Apple still a tech company or a law firm?

 

[wovel]

Some people on here dismiss things far too quickly. The fact of the matter is iCloud Communications was and is a company. I don't think I'd be too happy if the main part of my company name was then used by a multinational corporation and heavily promoted.

People here are claiming they're doing it for the attention. For goodness sake. Anything revolving around Apple is going to fire a media frenzy, so it doesn't matter if some small business in Arizona initiates legal action or a large corporation does; both will receive equally large and unnecessary amounts of traffic.

I think you need to start putting yourself in the position of these plaintiffs; some, not all, do have some credibility in their accusations.

They did not care when a small (apparently also multi-national) corporation used their name. Apple also registered 12 more service marks for the name on June 1st. I wonder if they will even bother to try and oppose, or if they prefer to limit their shakedown to the courts. Apple purchased the right to the name from a company with a properly registered (and totally unopposed) mark. iCloud Communication has no chance of forcing Apple not to use the name.

Any fool with google can search from 2008-2010 and see Xcerion actively used the iCloud named and it was quite widely publicized in the US. iCloud Communications stole a name from a product they thought was dead and ignored their TM. They are totally unaware how big of a mistake they are making.

Apple even registered a SM in iCloud Communications core business. They better figure out how to deal with this appropriately before they lose their company name.

----- Original Mark Below -----
Word Mark ICLOUD
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer programs for information management, for creating spreadsheets, tables, graphs and charts and for organizing and analyzing data, for word processing, for creation and display of presentations including text and graphics, for electronic mail and instant messaging services, for calendar and meeting scheduling, for desktop publishing, for project management, for business planning, for direct mail and business financial management, for online document collaboration, storage and editing services, for viewing and organizing audio-visual content such as music, video and photos, for creating and administrating online communities and groups, for creating and maintaining personal blogs, for online sharing of any digital content, for developing and testing new computer software, and for working as an operating system for integrating and aggregating online software applications and data to run in a single user interface on one computer; computer software for use as operating systems for embedded processors for application virtual machines, process virtual machines, and platform-independent machines; software for creating a virtual machine environment, performing process virtualization, interpreting semantic application code, and abstracting network resources
IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Providing temporary use of on-line non-downloadable software for information management, for creating spreadsheets, tables, graphs and charts and for organizing and analyzing data, for word processing, for creation and display of presentations including text and graphics, for electronic mail and instant messaging services, calendar and meeting scheduling, for desktop publishing, for project management, business planning, for direct mail and business financial management, for online document collaboration, storage and editing services, for viewing and organizing audio-visual content such as music, video and photos, for creating and administrating online communities and groups, for creating and maintaining personal blogs, for online sharing of any digital content, for developing and testing new computer software, and for integrating and aggregating existing online services

Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Trademark Search Facility Classification Code LETS-1 I A single letter, multiples of a single letter or in combination with a design
SHAPES-MISC Miscellaneous shaped designs
Serial Number 79056140
Filing Date May 29, 2008
Current Filing Basis 66A
Original Filing Basis 66A
Published for Opposition November 17, 2009
Registration Number 3744821
International Registration Number 0970388
Registration Date February 2, 2010
Owner (REGISTRANT) Xcerion AB CORPORATION SWEDEN Drottninggatan 23, Box 569; SE-581 07 Linköping SWEDEN
Attorney of Record Lisa G. Widup
Priority Date November 29, 2007
Type of Mark TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

 

[0815]

If I start a company called Dark Apple and have the following as my LOGO would that be violating any trademark?

Image

The name is probably fine ... the logo might be an issue since it is to close to the trademarked Apple Inc. logo.

 

[Apple OC]

who owns iLawyer ?