VoIP company changes name after The Cloud legal threat

A small VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) company has had to change its name afterwards being threatened with legal action over its use of the word 'cloud' in its name by European Wi-Fi network The Cloud.

High Court case

Having been threatened with a High Court case, Cloudnet Telecommunications decided to avoid potentially heavy legal costs and give itself the new name by which it is however known, Birchills Telecom.

The two companies don't compete directly however had vaguely similar registered names, Cloudnet Telecommunications Ltd, founded in 2009, and The Cloud Networks Ltd, founded in 2003.

"We were told by The Cloud's legal team to simply change our name in case The Cloud decided, at a later date, to sell telephone systems," said Birchills Telecom founder, Dave Hill.

The name similarity

Despite the name similarity, a check on Companies House register reveals many dozens of companies using the word 'cloud' in their names, including some that operate in the computing sphere, so Burchills but believes there could be a less obvious motive for the threat - bad SEO on Google.

"We provide business phone systems and cannot be simply mistaken for the Wi-Fi hotspot provider, and were by no means whatsoever trying to pass ourselves off as them. We have but had to invest in changing our branding, marketing materials, emails and more, during keeping our clients happy and informed of the changes," adds a miffed Hill.

What Burchills

What Burchills, formerly Cloudnet Telecommunications, has been canny about is generating publicity out of its enforced name change.