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Microsoft and Lindows Settle Trademark Case
An anonymous reader writes "According to an official press release hosted over at Yahoo, Microsoft and Lindows have settled their trademark case, and have announced: 'Over the next few months Lindows will cease using the term Lindows and transition to Linspire globally as our company name and primary identifier for our operating system product.' Although it's claimed: 'Terms of the settlement are confidential', ZDNet has an article filling in more details, including the fact: 'Microsoft will pay upstart Linux seller Lindows $20 million... [so that Lindows] will give up the Lindows name and assign related Web domains to Microsoft.'" We've previously covered the Microsoft and Lindows conflict in some detail.
That said, I'm glad to see the end of this as an issue... until Sunbean sues Linspire over their trademark
Sigs cause cancer.
I was hoping that Lindows would have went all the way to prove that the Windows trademark is too generic a term to be valid. Instead they take the easy option and go for the cash.
Although I guess you probably would find it difficult to refuse MS cash if you were a company.
Seriously, the linspire people are not the kinds of companies I, personally, would like to see carrying the Linux/OSS banner forward any more than I'd want to see claria be our standardbearer.
Hopefully after being forced to change their name will cause computer companies to consider bundling other "distributions" (if you deign call "lindows" a "distribution") such as mandrake or fedora wich are much more free (as in speech and as in beer), and who have not based their business model on a combination of selling free applications and having a name that sounds like 'windows'.
The ZDNET/C|net buggers barely scratched the surface.. Here's a link to the full text of the so called, Confidential Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release of Claims, dated as of July 16, 2004, by and between Microsoft Corporation and Lindows, Inc as filed with the SEC.
He starts a good fight... then sells out.
You can't re-use code, if you can't find it.
$20MM for a similar name sounds pretty wild. What's to stop Aindows, Bindows, etc from trying the same thing?
I think the new name is a bit unlinspired.
MS sues and Linspire walks away with $20M to use against MS to make their product and Linux better.
Sweet!!!
20 million....
I think it's time to roll out a Gentoo based MS Windows look-a-like named Gindows.
- A s M -
You too can make $20M. I am sure you can find lawyers willing to do the paperwork for you (on an if-come, for about $50%).
Microsoft forced wxWindows to change their name to wxWidgets. They didn't really have a strong case, but as an non-commercial project, the wxWidgets proejct didn't have the finances to contest it, either.
Microsoft offered some assistance in getting a hold of a new site for wxWidgets, as well as offsetting costs, but it was nothing along the lines of $20 Million.
So Microsoft has been going after other people in the "similar" namespace and using carrots and sticks to move them away from the Windows name. Generic or not, they are doing everything they can to ensure "Windows" is associated only with the Microsoft product.
It seems that redirecting web domain will cause consumer confusion. Joe consumer who doesn't know any better will go to the Lindows site only to find Microsoft and then assume they are the same thing.
Know what? Arguments about how MS is trying to enforce an "overly broad Windows trademark" are now moot. The settlement shows that Microsoft is aware that they cannot force names like Lindows to stop just because of a similarity, but they ARE willing to pay out to keep a monopoly. And know what? That's damn fair.
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
Due to this news I have decided to register the following domains:
c oms .como ws.comn dows.com
U indows.com
Aindows.com
Bindows.com
Cindows.com
Dindows.
Eindows.com
Findows.com
Gindows.com
Hindow
Iindows.com
Jindows.com
Kindows.com
Mind
Nindows.com
Oindows.com
Pindows.com
Qi
Rindows.com
Sindows.com
Tindows.com
Vindows.com
Xindows.com
Yindows.com
Zindows.com
I anxiously await 24 $20M checks.
-m
#
# Modus Ponens
#
So who want's to start Vindows, a layer on top of VMS that makes it more like Windows. We could even call it Vindows NT.
Seriously, with MS so close to losing their trademark, why not more people set up names similar to windows and cash in challenging them in court.
MS throw about their weight with trademarks way too often (MikeRoweSoft is a recent example), if I was called Bob I'd be scared that they'd sue me next.
The Andersen Company declined to comment on rumors that they were in negotiations with Microsoft to give up all right to the name of their product, formerly titled "Windows." They further refused to comment on speculation that their products would now be called "Wallholes." When asked how much cash they'd been offered by Redmond, the Andersen spokesman hung up on this reporter.
I have to say, good for Lindows. They've managed to secure some decent funding for their development while getting a lot of attention. Lets face it, most Linux users are 'in the know' in the IT world. The transition from Lindows to Linspire (or whatever) is *not* going to get people lost. So good for them!
-- Bored? Check out my Portfolio
I think I'll go for VVindows,\^/indows and \/\/indows ;-)
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
Profit occures before step '3) ???'.
PS:
When Lindows started using Linspire in the US. It made no sense other than to prepare for an eventual settlement. I do wish Robertson would have held out for more money. 20 million is NOTHING to Microsoft.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
What this basically means is that there will now be a major open source player. If Lindows is frugal with this money, or spends it on advertising and promotions that benefit both themselves and the open source community that they take their base distribution from, we could finally see the first real threat to Microsoft! And with money given to them by their main competitor?
Didn't Alanis Morisette right a song about this?
One, 20 million dollars is 1/3000th of their cash hoard. A movie ticket to someone making $250,000 a year salary.
Two, there was a real danger of losing their trademark on Windows as being generic.
Infuriate left and right
Same here - if I go to the homepage I get a 503 every time. I'm having to in via my homepage. very slow though...
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
I'm more interested in one of the settlement terms where Lindows..er..Linspire will remove certain components and M$ will provide alternatives. This means that MS will have to port some software to Linux. Ouch!
So I have a question. Can Linus Torvalds sue Linspire for using the "Lin" part in its name? Wait. Bad idea. Because then Linus would have to pay Linspire $20 million!
But I would like to say, I think Microsoft not only would have won any court cases, but probably should. "Lindows" is clearly a trademark infringement, and for the so-called "Joe Whatever" so trumpeted here as the "average user", it simply isn't clear that there would be no confusion. Whenever I think people are not that stupid, they always prove me wrong.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Bloomberg has a pretty detailed article about this, for those looking for more detail than the commonly-used Reuter's article contains...
Deven
"Simple things should be simple, and complex things should be possible." - Alan Kay
I am starting a new company to challenge the Windows Trademark. The company name will be "Vindows". I fully expect that there will be a legal challenge by that big nasty company with all the money. I expect a need to raise about two million to be financially viable before introducing the new company and its products. I promise that I will not store my software in a warehouse somewhere, but will provide direct links to the manufacturer's websites where you will be allowed to obtain software at no cost to you once you become a partner in my company.
I am currently soliciting investment funds from entrepeneurs in the amounts of $50.00 or more each toward this goal. Private share certificates will be issued for each investment of $50.00, and for the first $1000 (oops) I meant 1000 people who have limited funds and can only donate (oops again) invest $25 dollars, I will divide the investment shares accordingly.
If the venture company really takes off, we will all become rather rich. However, the best we can hope for is for that big nasty company to come try to put us out of business by claiming they have rights to our name. The way I see it, with two million dollars to pay attorney fees, we will still have $18 million to share after we change our name and settle out of court. For those who have invested in the initial two million dollars, your return will be a whopping 400 percent, allowing you to recoup your investment plus 300 percent in less than 3 years.
That leaves me as CEO and owner, having made the company what it is, with just enough to limp along and start over with --- well, I was thinking of something like "Rindows".
Please forward your donations to me at my websites, vindows.com and three years from now, rindows.com. Please don't get the names mixed up since others may try to scam you out of money by registering similar websites like "dindows" of "findows" or even "zindows".
Thanks ahead for your donation (oops still again). I meant investment.
CEO and Owner, Vindows
You guys are happy that people can extort money from a company by naming their products something similar?
Whether you like it or not, whether its trademarkable or not, people associate 'Windows' with Microsoft Windows. Naming their product 'Lindows' was an attempt to be leach off of a brand name.
This is so obvious to anyone who isn't blinded by dumb hatred of anything Microsoft. If there was any OSS software that was popular amongst the novice computer-user masses, and MS named a competing product almost the same thing, there would be OSS bedwetter outcry galore.
This dishonest crap of changing one letter in a name, or naming it something very similar, or making the logo similar, has been going on for far too long; long before commerical computer programs. Its BS, no matter what medium its in. Don't applaud it.
Instead of playing off the *indows theme, maybe choose a name that plays off it, but is not directly related, like "Doors," or "Steps," or something.
...I dunno... sounds hokey.. but it sends subtle jabs to Windows without infringing directly on copyright..
It seems knock-offish I know, but imagine the advertising possibilities:
"Why look through a Window when you can walk through a Door"
or
"Make sure you take the right Steps to yada yada yada..."
This message was posted using recycled electrons.
Why? What's so wrong with Linspire that you don't want them to join your following? I see this attitude everywhere, but I don't understand it. I hope this is something more than the script-kiddie "If grandma can use it then it sux: OSS should be hard to use" attitude.
And what did Mike Rowe (remember MikeRoweSoft?) get? A handful of books and an XBox. He should have held out...
Actually, MR has been in the trenches quite a bit.
He was one of the first people to try challenging Microsoft for the desktop head-on.
He managed to grab $20M in funding from Microsoft.
He funded the "run Linux on the XBox awards" that partly funded the practical breaking of the XBox DRM, which probably cost Microsoft quite a pretty penny in lost royalties.
MR may not be a nice person. He may not even be someone that you want associated with Linux. You could argue that he hits below the belt when he fights. But one thing you can't say is that he wasn't fighting against Microsoft, because he did, more so than just about anyone out there -- he walked up, challenged Microsoft, and has been steadily beating them, abeit with a thousand little stabs. He's managed to cut himself a nice little niche out of Windows market share while staying about as high-profile at Redmond as could possibly be imagined. He's one of those rare beasts -- a competent exec.
He's hardly sold out -- he now has a slightly changed product name (that personally, I find more appealing), a good chunk of money, plenty of publicity from the case, and based on what he's done so far, I expect that he'll do fine for himself.
May we never see th
Am I the only one who is reminded of Larry Ellison whenever I read about Michael Robertson? (The former is the CEO of Oracle and the latter is the founder and CEO of Lindows / Linspire.)
Both run tech companies. Both have personalities (based on reports and news stories) that could be categorized as "dickhead."
And both appear to be redeemable for the sole reason that they seem to really enjoy pissing in Bill Gates' Cheerios.
- Neil Wehneman
P.S. Since this topic is on trademarks, it should be noted that Cheerios is a registered trademark of General Mills, and my reference to it is in the non-trademark use of the mark. (Reference)
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
"selling free applications and having a name that sounds like 'windows'"
Ok, I'll bite. I don't use Lindows/Linspire but this post is incorrect.
1. Lindows sells a subscriptions service where they offer easy to install apps. This may not seem useful to you but it's very useful to a horde of people for whom installing software is too complex. They are selling "making it easy for you" not the free software.
2. Lindows doesn't represent the community and nobody would take seriously an attempt on their part to do so. They do however contribute to it. Recently, for example, they hired a fulltime mozilla developer. I'm also pretty sure they help finance/contribute to the development of some KDE apps. Additionally, they help pay for the bandwidth of the kdelook website.
3. Microsoft's rights to the word window are debatable at best. IMO owning the rights to the use of words in a specific context is a stupid idea that should never have been allowed.
4. I don't blame Lindows for taking the 20mil. It's not cheap fighting litigation all around the world and extra tough when you're trying to build a business at the same time. Especially when your opponent has bottomless pits of money.
Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
So, because Lindows has taken Linux and gone after the lowest common denominator, the "average" user, the Uber Script Kiddies and Uber Wanna Be Geeks diss it as not really Linux, after all "grandma" can use it. This is why Red Hat fell out of favor, after all they did for Linux, it got way to easy to use, just not geeky enough, after all, with a graphical installer no less.
Well, Linux is now "here", and the companies that have the resources to do it will now put Linux in everyone's hands, not just the "illuminati" and such. Uber Losers, you will now have to go find another "secret" to imagine only you know the truth about. How about BeOS?
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
If it were that, you'd see the same comments about Xandros and Lycoris. Lindows just comes across as sleazy and disreputable: the constant imitation of trademarks from Microsoft and Apple (that you've got to think are done with an eye towards generating publicity), the rebadging of others people's open-source applications, the ludicrous claims of Windows compatibility. There's a feel that responsible Linux companies have, and they simply don't have it.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Not only has he changed his product's name to something non-lame but he also managed to get his biggest competitor to pay him to do it!
The venture capitalists is the "Burcham Community Property Trust," which is controlled by the parents of Mr. Robertson's wife. According to http://lwn.net/Articles/81289/
John Carmack fan, browsing at +5 since 1999.
They claimed Windows compatibility (and poured money into the WINE project) prematurely, when it looked like it may be possible to actually accomplish it. Once it became clear that it wasn't going to happen, they did away with that marketing bullet-point.
Linspire also contributes heavily to a range of OSS projects, such as WINE, GAIM, Mozilla, NVu, Reiser4, etc. Xandros, on the other hand, doesn't (AFAIK).
Not to mention that they managed to do the unthinkable: get Linux into Wal-Mart and other mainstream places. They've gotten the topic a hell of a lot of press, too.
I'd say their distro may even come second to their bolstering of the "you don't have to settle for Windows" crowd.
WeRelate.org - wiki-based genealogy
Linspire is coming out with a laptop product line named "Linspiron".
Sindows is optimized for serving pr0n!
#1 "Windows" is a stupid thing to trademark, anyway. It's a common word!
#2 Why would anyone want to name a Linux distro after Windows?
#3 Who would be stupid enough to take the risk that MS might sue them over a name?
#4 What kind of a name is "Linspire"?
#5 Someone should name their Linux distro "Pronghorn," just to aggravate the Microsofties.
"I never got this argument. It always seemed like sour grapes to me. What's so generic about "Microsoft Windows XP" or "Microsoft Office 2003?""
There's nothing wrong with those names - it's the use of the words windows or office OUTSIDE the phrase incorporating the Microsoft name.
MS still seem to be setting themselves up for it - go here and check out all the use of the proper noun 'Office' without any off the 'Microsoft' or version qualifiers! That's where the issue has, does and will continue to lie.
...is why people keep saying that "Windows" is trademarked. "Windows" by itself is not trademarked, whereas "Microsoft Windows" is. Even if people use an abbreviated version of the trademark in day to day talk, it doesn't mean that Microsoft owns the word, "Windows" any more then they own the word "win" or "soft". A owner of a trademark is not automatically granted the abbreviation to said trademark.
If someone created a company called Remus's Famous Cookies and trademarked it, it doesn't mean that they can sue another company that came out with "Amos Famous Cookies or Ms. Fields Famous Cookies" even if their trademark was granted first.
I think the big concern is how much of a bully Microsoft can be. For example, many people don't even realize that Wordperfect had a product called WordPerfect Office, (that was dos-based) long before Microsoft decided to bundle, Word, Excell and Access and call it Microsoft Office. However, WordPerfect was such a small company they didn't want to risk Microsoft stomping all over thier product so they changed the name of their suite of applications instead.
Last I checked Lindows had fixed this root problem. It by default creates a different account for root and the users (calls it an administrator password.) I'm not a Lindows user (Debian to be exact) but It's still good to get your facts correct. Then again this is slashdot.
Last I checked Lindows had fixed this root problem.
From the Linspire knowledge base:
Obviously, root is the default, and n00bs won't know any better. Mandrake adds a non-root user as the normal login by default.
. . .but It's still good to get your facts correct.
Yes, you should try it. I didn't say that Lindows didn't allow non-root users, only that the default user ran as root, which is a Bad Thing.
Uh... I have a new operating system... it's a umm FreeBSD based distribution, and it's called uh... WindowsBSD. There. I copyright the name. WindowsBSD.
SUE ME NOW YOU BASTARDS!!!!! (please?)