Rolling with the Punches
Microsoft was compelled to defend one of its products in a lawsuit mid-summer of last year. British broadcasting company BSkyB made a complaint that Microsoft's SkyDrive product "was infringing on its
copyright and wanted Microsoft to be forced to change [SkyDrive's name]." (link) After threatening to appeal the decision, Microsoft has instead decided to reach a settlement with BSkyB and change the name of their cloud-based service.
Today, Ryan Gavin, a Microsoft general manager, has made an official announcement of the new service, OneDrive. The product is exactly the same--just a rebranding of the original SkyDrive.
I can't help but wonder why BSkyB decided to make its complaint now, especially since SkyDrive has been in Great Britain as early as August 2007 (Wikipedia)! I also worry about anyone that has plans of developing new applications and services in the future. With companies like BSkyB puppy-guarding common words like 'sky', it's going to be increasingly difficult to come up with good names for superior products in the future. Kudos to Microsoft for rolling with the punches.
Today, Ryan Gavin, a Microsoft general manager, has made an official announcement of the new service, OneDrive. The product is exactly the same--just a rebranding of the original SkyDrive.
I can't help but wonder why BSkyB decided to make its complaint now, especially since SkyDrive has been in Great Britain as early as August 2007 (Wikipedia)! I also worry about anyone that has plans of developing new applications and services in the future. With companies like BSkyB puppy-guarding common words like 'sky', it's going to be increasingly difficult to come up with good names for superior products in the future. Kudos to Microsoft for rolling with the punches.
I was surprised that that BSkyB got away with this law suite. I obviously don't understand law, but I would not have thought that the word Sky alone would not be enough to take to court. BSkyB doesn't even specialize in cloud services from what I understand. I actually like the new name, OneDrive. It falls in line with their current vision.
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