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Microsoft agrees to change SkyDrive name worldwide; won't appeal ruling

Microsoft will soon make a name change for its SkyDrive cloud data storage service. After losing a trademark battle in a UK court in June from the pay TV provider BSkyB, the two companies have now agreed that Microsoft will not appeal the ruling and will make moves to change the name of the SkyDrive service, not just in the UK but worldwide, to something else.

According to The Verge, the settlement between Microsoft and BskyB included some financial features but the specific details were, as usual, confidential. In a statement, Microsoft said, “We’re glad to have resolution of this naming dispute, and will continue to deliver the great service our hundreds of millions of customers expect, providing the best way to always have your files with you.:

BSkyB said that Microsoft would be allowed to keep the SkyDrive brand “for a reasonable period of time” while the company comes up with a new name. There’s no word on just how much time Microsoft has been given to use the name.

The parent company of BSkyB, News Corporation, filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in 2011, stating it held the trademark on the “Sky” name. Microsoft claimed that consumers would not be confused by its SkyDrive data storage service, but the judge in the case ruled in June that the brand name would in fact be detrimental to the previous Sky trademark.

So what will it be called now? Our favorites are Windows Drive or Microsoft Cloud.