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.

Comments

This is one case where I was rooting for microsoft

[Bold Marauder]

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'.

Full Text of the Confidential Agreement - link

[darthcamaro]

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.

Lacking linspiration

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the new name is a bit unlinspired.

I love it!

[Anonymous Coward]

MS sues and Linspire walks away with $20M to use against MS to make their product and Linux better.

Sweet!!!

Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

20 million....

I think it's time to roll out a Gentoo based MS Windows look-a-like named Gindows.

- A s M -

Redirecting web domains

[Roached]

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.

M$ puts out the cash!

[Southpaw018]

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.

$20 Million! Get rich quick

[lacrymology.com]

Due to this news I have decided to register the following domains:

Aindows.com
Bindows.com
Cindows.com
Dindows.c om
Eindows.com
Findows.com
Gindows.com
Hindows .com
Iindows.com
Jindows.com
Kindows.com
Mindo ws.com
Nindows.com
Oindows.com
Pindows.com
Qin dows.com
Rindows.com
Sindows.com
Tindows.com
U indows.com
Vindows.com
Xindows.com
Yindows.com
Zindows.com

I anxiously await 24 $20M checks.
-m

In Other News

[PonyHome]

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.

Re:Is it over?

[xystren]

I can't wait to see this...

"Linspire - Where do you want to go today?"

Try it, you may be able to get another 20million outta them.....
---
sig line? We *don't* need no stinky sig line.

Summary of "Confidential" agreement

[Ath]

• Linspire will change their name from Lindows to Linspire.
• Linspire will not longer use any form of "Lindows" or even a named with "indows" in it.
• Linspire will transfer all related domains to the Lindows name to Microsoft.
• Linspire will no longer bundle Microsoft's media DLLs in its distribution.
• Microsoft will license the SDK for their media components to Linspire.
• Linspire accepts Microsoft's claim that "Windows" is a Microsoft trademark. Is it? I doubt it as generic terms are not trademarkable. I think "Microsoft Windows" is trademarked.
• Microsoft will pay Linspire $20 million.
• The terms of settlement will be absolutely confidential and only made available where required by law...like on the SEC website during Linspire's IPO.

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!

This really boggles the mind

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

maybe they should come at it a different way

[hGMFliP]

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.

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..."

...I dunno... sounds hokey.. but it sends subtle jabs to Windows without infringing directly on copyright..

MR fought pretty hard

[0x0d0a]

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.

Re:Two reasons

[daeley]

84 bucks for a movie ticket

Actually the poster probably meant a movie ticket + small popcorn and thimble of Sprite, which $84 would almost cover.