A year after Microsoft abandoned the name "Metro" in the face of a reported-but-never-confirmed trademark dispute with German retailer Metro AG, Microsoft is now in danger of losing the name "SkyDrive."

SkyDrive is Microsoft's cloud storage service for both consumers and business customers. British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) Group challenged Microsoft's use of the name, saying it infringed on the company's "Sky" trademarks. BSkyB offered an online storage service called "Sky Store & Share" between 2008 and 2011, and it has various trademarks over digital services using the name "Sky" followed by a descriptive name. These include Sky+, Sky Digital, Sky Broadband, Sky Go, Sky Mobile, Sky Bet, and Sky Photos.

A ruling Friday by Justice Sarah Asplin of the England and Wales High Court agreed with BSkyB.

"In my judgment, having taken into account all the learning in relation to the nature of the 'average consumer' who is a reasonably well informed and reasonably observant user of broadband Internet services, if one undertakes a global assessment, there is every reason to conclude that there is a likelihood of confusion in the average consumer in the sense that there is a risk that the public might believe that the services come from the same undertaking or one which is economically linked," Asplin wrote.

Microsoft is not going to give up the name yet, though. In a statement reported by TechCrunch, Microsoft said, “The decision is one step in the legal process and Microsoft intends to appeal.”

In the case of the Metro name, Microsoft offered numerous alternatives, including Modern UI, Windows 8 Style UI, Windows Store Apps, and Microsoft Design Language. In the end, most Microsoft observers (including Ars) have continued using Metro to refer to the Windows 8 touch interface and the related design language and apps.

With SkyDrive, Microsoft may have more incentive to fight BSkyB's claim. While Metro is mainly a descriptor of the distinctive Windows 8 interface rather than the name of the operating system itself, SkyDrive is the sole name of Microsoft's cloud storage service. Given SkyDrive's integration with Office 365 and Office Web Apps, it's also an important piece of Microsoft's strategy for keeping business customers as they move from on-premises productivity software to cloud-based services.