While Apple has been busy suing Amazon for the use of “Appstore” in its name, it looks like Apple is now the ones on the receiving end of a lawsuit over a name. A company from Phoenix, Arizona has just filed a complaint against the Cupertino company that used the name “iCloud” for its recently unveiled cloud service that was shown off last week at the WWDC.
iCloud Communications LLC said in its filing that it has been providing cloud computing services since 2005 – way before the first iPhone even was released. What’s interesting about the lawsuit is that iCloud provides a service that is similar to iCloud Communications provides. Here’s a paragraph taken from the complaint:
The goods and services with which Apple intends to use the “iCloud” mark are identical to or closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud Marks since its formation in 2005. However, due to the worldwide media coverage given to and generated by Apple’s announcement of its “iCloud” services and the ensuing saturation advertising campaign pursued by Apple, the media and the general public have quickly come to associate the mark “iCloud” with Apple, rather than iCloud Communications.
iCloud Communications wants Apple to stop using the name iCloud and get rid of “all labels, signs, prints, insignia, letterhead, brochures, business cards, invoices and any other written or recorded material”. But with Apple owning 12 of the 13 registered trademarks around iCloud, and the name iCloud practically unheard of before Apple used the name, it’s hard to see it falling in the favor of the plaintiffs.