''Microsoft v. Lindows.com, Inc.'' was a court
case
Case or CASE may refer to:
Containers
* Case (goods), a package of related merchandise
* Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component
* Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books
* Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to c ...
brought by
Microsoft against
Lindows, Inc in December 2001, claiming that the name "Lindows" was a violation of its
trademark "Windows."
After two and a half years of court battles, Microsoft paid million for the Lindows trademark, and
Lindows Inc. became
Linspire Inc.
The case
In addition to the
United States, Microsoft also sued Lindows in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
France,
Belgium,
Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and
Canada.
Lindows started off with a handicap of having to defend themselves from their own lawyers (from
St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company) who initially refused to defend Lindows. Judge Robert Takasugi found St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company had breached their contract.
In response to these lawsuits, Lindows launched ''ChoicePC.com'', which allowed people to purchase lifetime Lindows memberships that included a copy of LindowsOS, LindowsOS upgrades for life, and a ChoicePC.com T-shirt, for . All money from the memberships went towards helping Lindows in its legal battle against Microsoft.
Lindows had also retaliated against Microsoft's lawsuits with ''Lin---s'' (pronounced ''Lindash'') and the corresponding domain ''lin---s.com'' (now disused). Consumers and resellers from countries in which Microsoft had blocked the sale of Lindows products due to the trademark lawsuits were encouraged to visit the Lin---s website instead of Lindows.com to purchase the Lin---s software, which was identical to Lindows except for the name change.
As early as 2002, a court rejected Microsoft's claims, stating that Microsoft had used the term "windows" to describe graphical user interfaces before the product, Windows, was ever released, and the windowing technique had already been implemented by Xerox and Apple many years before. Microsoft kept seeking retrial, but in February 2004, a judge rejected two of Microsoft's central claims. The judge denied Microsoft's request for a
preliminary injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...
and raised "serious questions" about Microsoft's trademark. Microsoft feared a court may define "Windows" as
generic
Generic or generics may refer to:
In business
* Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark
* Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
and result in the loss of its status as a trademark.
Settlement
In July 2004, Microsoft offered to settle with Lindows.
As part of this licensing settlement, Microsoft paid an estimated , and Lindows transferred the Lindows trademark to Microsoft and changed their name to
Linspire.
See also
*
Microsoft litigation
*
X Window System
References
External links
Microsoft Legal NewsMicrosoft's press release announcing the settlement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Microsoft V. Lindows
United States computer case law
United States trademark case law
Microsoft litigation
Linspire
2001 in United States case law