Dell – It’s all about proprietary

This is one for the "wow that’s amazing file". It seems that Dell is attempting to trademark the term "cloud computing". Dell is defending it’s application noting that in the past twelve months (since the application has been in) no one has opposed it. Of course this logic smacks of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – to quote;

You hadn’t exactly gone out of your way to call attention to the building plans had you? I mean like actually telling anyone or anything.
But the plans were on display.
On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.
That’s the display department.’
With a torch.
Ah, well the lights had probably gone.
So had the stairs.
But look you found the notice didn’t you?
Yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of The Leopard"

Come on Dell – I know all is fair in Love, War and Business – but this is too much. Even if you claim that;

the trademark would not prevent others in the industry from using the the term, except in the "narrow" definition it seeks. That definition, in the trademark application, describes "the design of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others; customization of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others.

Here’s hoping that this is one application that gets struck out sooner rather than later