Microsoft has announced it will be renaming its SkyDrive facility as OneDrive, which will become available in the near future.
Microsoft hinted at the reason behind the name change, which it conceded “wasn’t easy”. A OneDrive blog on a new domain linked to an article by ComputerWeekly.com explaining that Microsoft had decided not to appeal the trademark infringement judgement made against it by BSKyB.
BSkyB claimed the SkyDrive name was infringing on its copyright in a complaint to the European Union, and following a hearing in a UK court, it was ruled Microsoft would change the name of its product.
In July last year the companies came to a settlement which gave Microsoft “a reasonable period of time to allow for an orderly transition to a new brand”.
The OneDrive blog added, “For current users of either SkyDrive or SkyDrive Pro, you’re all set. The service will continue to operate as you expect and all of your content will be available on OneDrive and OneDrive for Business respectively as the new name is rolled out across the portfolio.”
Launched in 2007, Microsoft’s SkyDrive file hosting service allowed users to upload, sync and store files in cloud storage.
