VoIP Company Sues Apple Over iCloud Name

The Arizona-based VoIP provider iCloud Communications has sued Apple over its recently-announced iCloud service, claiming that the service's name violates the company's trademark. iCloud Communications claims that Apple copied the name for its online service from the IP company, and that its large marketing campaign has taken attention away from iCloud Communications' services and products. The company says that "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," reports Cnet.com. iCloud Communications also points out that Apple has encountered similar trademark disagreements with other organizations. Previously, The Beatles' Apple Corp. sued Apple over its company name in 1978, and Cisco Systems sued Apple over the iPhone name in 2007. According to Cnet, Apple recently spent $4.5 million to acquire the iCloud.com domain from the Swedish cloud computing company Xcerion, and filed for trademark rights to the iCloud name in May. Apple's recently announced iCoud service will allow iOS apps to save information such as contacts and documents online, so users can access the data from other devices. While Apple hasn't announced whether the service will affect game saves, the company has offered API access to third-party iOS developers.