Dell tries to trademark "cloud computing"

Sam Johnston, a member of the Cloud Computing group (Google Groups login required) posted that Dell had used "Cloud Computing" with TM in a press release and decided to do a little digging.

Oddly the application was not opposed and from what it appears on the Industry Standard it may be too late.

If Dell wins the application and enforces the trademark it could dramatically alter the cloudscape.

Notice in the filing below that there is no first-use date associated with the claim whereas there are a number of articles etc. prior to the filing date that use the "cloud computing" term.

From the trademark filing:
International Class: 040
Class Status: Active
Custom manufacture of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others

Basis: 1(b)
First Use Date: (DATE NOT AVAILABLE)
First Use in Commerce Date: (DATE NOT AVAILABLE)

International Class: 042
Class Status: Active
Design of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others; customization of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others; design and development of networks for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others; Consulting services for data centers and mega-scale computing environments in the fields of design, selection, implementation, customization and use of computer hardware and software systems for others; Consulting services for data centers and mega-scale computing environments in the fields of design, selection, implementation, customization and use of computer hardware and software systems for others

Basis: 1(b)
First Use Date: (DATE NOT AVAILABLE)
First Use in Commerce Date: (DATE NOT AVAILABLE)

[The_Decider]

I hope they get it, because "cloud computing" is not only an annoying marketing buzzword it isn't going to last long.

It is nothing more than a mainframe model with even more performance, reliability and security issues. 100% hype 0% substance

[samjohnston]

You don't suppose that Dell having applied for this trademark in the first place is a sign of things to come? Go read the Wikipedia definition and see if you can come up with a better moniker for it.

[The_Decider]

M A I N F R A M E

Calling it cloud computing is just a scam to get people to buy into the new term for mainframe.

[samjohnston]

There is indeed some truth in that, however also some key differences. Both use virtualisation extensively. Both centralise processing and use some form of 'dumb terminal'. However mainframes predate the Internet (and can operate independently of it) and from an architecture point of view they are a vertical (and thus limited) solution to the scalability problem - cloud computing is almost always horizontally scaled across many machines.

If nothing else the cloud computing moniker should put an end to the proliferation of 'aaS'y acronyms.

Sam

[techie2479]

What's next? "Web Surfing"? Perhaps "Public Domain"? What a crock.