SCE filed a trademark for "PS Cloud" on March 24 this year, the same day that OnLive formally announced the cloud-based OnLive Gaming Service.
OnLive's subscription-based service, due this winter, does not require discs or hard drive installation of games. Rather, it uses a broadband connection, bouncing game data back and forth in real time between the user's computer and powerful servers that can purportedly run high-end games. The system works on PC or Mac, or on TVs with a small "MicroConsole," and marginalizes the importance of the power of a user's gaming rig.
SCE's trademark mentions a relationship to "entertainment services, namely, providing an online videogame that users may access through the Internet," as well as other forms of "on-demand" media, from electronic magazines and books to television.
We've contacted SCEA regarding the filing.