Microsoft has been forced to rename SkyDrive, it’s cloud storage service, after a lawsuit with British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB). A UK court has ruled that Microsoft was indeed infringing on trademark owned by the broadcasting company. Microsoft has decided to not appeal the ruling, and will indeed change the name of the service. The court has stated that Microsoft will be given “a reasonable period of time to allow for an orderly transition to a new brand.”
Microsoft released the following statement to The Verge on the suit:
We’re glad to have resolution of this naming dispute, and will continue to deliver the great service our hundreds of millions of customers expect, providing the best way to always have your files with you.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Microsoft have trademark issues in Europe. German Metro AG almost took Microsoft to court after it started to use the term “Metro” to describe Windows 8’s tile interface. Microsoft ended up changing the name accordingly in this instance as well. Metro is now referred to as simply “Windows 8”.
SkyDrive is Microsoft’s popular cloud storage service. The service works with the Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone computers and devices to share and backup files cross-platform. The service also has integration with Microsoft Office for seamless file backup.
