COMMENTS
Prof. Iyer,
I didn't read the WSJ article, but DELL has not been issued a trademark for "cloud computing," they just applied for it. They were, surprisingly, given what's called a "notice of allowance," which means that the mark survived the period of time that that the public can oppose it. But, on August 5th, the USPTO rescinded the notice and sent the case back to an examiner.
I read about this on August 2nd (Slashdot story), so it's still likely the USPTO responded to the public outcry over surviving opposition.
Here's the status / history of the mark:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77139082&action=Request+Status
Hope all is well,
Athas