Dell is trying to obtain a trademark patent on the term ‘cloud computing’ and has filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s. Apparently the Dell request has survived the first part of the application process and is now in the challenge process of a trademark registration. The challenge process allows others time to take on the request and to fight a trademark application.
The term ‘cloud computing’ is loosely defined by Dell as:
In the application, Dell describes cloud computing as “custom manufacture of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others.”
Or by others as:
The term cloud computing, which has emerged in the last few years, refers to a computing environment where data and services reside in scalable data centers accessible over the Internet. The demand for such environments is being driven by the growth of technologies such as social networking, streaming media, and mobile devices.
Which brings up a point of interest. What does Dell hope to gain by obtaining a trademark of the term ‘cloud computing’? Does it mean no one else could use the term without infringing on Dell’s claim? Should loosely defined terms be allowed a trademark to begin with?
What do you think?
Comments welcome.