Having filed a complaint against Apple shortly after the Cupertino-based company had announced its new cloud-based service in June, iCloud Communications has moved to dismiss its lawsuit in the District Court of Arizona and has reportedly moved to change its name.
On September 1, the company filed a motion for voluntary dismissal with prejudice, meaning that the complaint cannot be refiled once approved by a judge in the district. According to reports, the company hasn’t even attempted to seek reimbursement for legal fees.
The Phoenix New Times reports that on August 12, the company changed its name to Clear Digital Communications, after posting a message to a new Facebook page. The update said “iCloud is now Clear Digital Communications,” adding a profile picture with the name “PhoenixSoft” – a company with the same address.
iCloud/PhoenixSoft’s lawyer declined to comment on the matter.
When the company issued its claim in June, it accused Apple of offering services are nearly identical to the ones that were offered by iCloud Communications:
The goods and services with which Apple intends to use the “iCloud” mark are identical to or closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud Marks since its formation in 2005. However, 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.
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The lawsuit didn’t specify any monetary relief, but did call for “all profits, gains and advantages” as well as “all monetary damages sustained”. It asked for Apple to refrain from using the iCloud name and to “deliver for destruction all labels, signs, prints, insignia, letterhead, brochures, business cards, invoices and any other written or recorded material” with the iCloud name.
All claims, accusations and legal filings have now been pulled, leaving Apple free to continue its iCloud push for when its new iPhone is launched and iOS update made available. It probably helped that Apple owned 12 of the 13 iCloud registrations with the US Patents and Trademarks Office.
It has even been suggested that iCloud Communications didn’t even own the trademark to start with, the company was also in the VOIP market, something quite far removed from Apple’s storage service.
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