Microsoft changes ‘SkyDrive’ name to ‘OneDrive’

Six months after losing a court battle with UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB over its use of the name ‘SkyDrive’, Microsoft has announced it’s changing its cloud-based storage service to OneDrive.

Back in June, an English High Court found that the name ‘SkyDrive’ infringed on BSkyB’s trademarked ‘Sky’ name. Though Microsoft initially said it would appeal the decision, it decided not to – in exchange for being given time to switch its branding over to something different. And that something different, as we now know, is OneDrive.

While he does allude to the reasons behind the change by linking to some media coverage of the court case, Ryan Gavin, General Manager, Consumer Apps & Services at Microsoft, outlines other reasons for the new name in a blog post earlier today.

“One place for all of your photos and videos. One place for all of your documents. One place that is seamlessly connected across all the devices you use. You want OneDrive for everything in your life.”

It also ties in nicely with the ‘Xbox One’ branding, but that could be a happy coincidence.

Microsoft wasn’t the first company to be targeted by BSkyB over the use of the word ‘Sky’ in their branding. Less than two months after Livescribe launched its Sky WiFi Smartpen, it was forced to pull its product in the UK by BSkyB, with Livescribe later agreeing to change the name of the device to ‘Livescribe WiFi Smartpen’ in the EU.

Microsoft could’ve restricted its re-brand to the UK or Europe, but this would no doubt cause confusion in some markets for what is a ultimately a global online service. Indeed, sources at Microsoft tell us that they decided to change the name globally “for a consistent customer experience”.

The new name will be coming into effect shortly, with SkyDrive and SkyDrive Pro becoming OneDrive and OneDrive for Business respectively. Meanwhile, check out the official promo video for yourself below.