Following preliminary injunctions granted against it in Finland,
Sweden and the Benelux countries, in April Lindows changed the name
of its operating system from Lindows to Linspire.
But the strategy failed somewhat when Microsoft then launched
another trade mark action, suing the company over its continued use
of 'Lindows' as the corporate name.
On Thursday, according to Yahoo! News, Lindows succeeded in
defending the action when the Amsterdam District Court ruled that
"not every use of the business name 'Lindows' infringes on the
Windows trade mark".
The court particularly noted that the name is only found in the
small print of the Dutch Linspire web site and product papers, and
that both contain clear statements that the company is in no way
connected to Microsoft, said the Yahoo! News report.
The dispute dates back to December 2001 when Microsoft filed a
trade mark suit in the US seeking to prevent Lindows Inc. from
using the terms LindowsOS and Lindows.com, arguing that they
infringe on its rights in Windows. Since then Microsoft has raised
further actions in Europe.
But the main action, in the US, has not gone entirely
Microsoft's way. Most recently a US court refused to allow
Microsoft to appeal a decision that the meaning of the term
'windows' must be considered as it was understood prior to 1985 –
before Microsoft's Windows was first released.
The interpretation of 'windows' is fundamental to Microsoft's
case because if the trial jury finds that the term 'windows' was
generic prior to 1985, then it cannot now, or in the future, be
trade marked by Microsoft.
The trial is likely to take place later this year.
