Filed by KOSU News in Business.
June 14, 2011

Apple is being sued for trademark infringement over the name of its new Internet storage service, which it calls iCloud. A company in Dallas says it has been using that name since 2005.

Last week Apple introduced iCloud, a service that will let users store music, photos, calendars, e-mails and other content online. But iCloud Communications says Apple should have asked the Phoenix-based company before using the name.

In a complaint filed in federal court in Arizona, iCloud Communications says the services that Apple is offering are very similar to the services it has been offering. But now that Apple has generated worldwide media coverage, the public is associating the name iCloud with Apple, the complaint says.

In its complaint, iCloud Communications says many of its customers have been confused.

Dallas-based trademark attorney Molly Buck Richard says the smaller company appears to have a good case since it has been operating under that name for six years.

Apple did not return emails or phone calls to discuss the lawsuit. [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]