Microsoft has trademarked Kumo, a brand the company is reportedly considering using in place of Live Search.
There has been speculation that Microsoft will rename Live Search as Kumo some time next year.
Microsoft recently took ownership of the Kumo.com domain name, as well as a host of related ones, including kumosearch.com, kumowiki.com, and kumotravel.com.
But until Dec. 4, Microsoft did not own the Kumo trademark.
In its trademark filing Microsoft says the name could be used for various purposes, including "computer search engine software," "advertising services including dissemination of advertising for others via the Internet," and "computer services, including search engine services."