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Windows Vista Faces Lawsuits
WindozeSux writes "When tech company Vista discovered the title for the new Windows Operating System version, company founder John Wall was not amused. John Wall may take this to court because he knows of how protective Microsoft is over their trademarks. From the article: 'A Microsoft spokesman said the company chose Vista from a list developed by the Windows team, based on attributes of the new software. Among its primary selling points are new tools for searching and viewing the contents of a PC; communications features; and a lighter desktop appearance with transparent objects.'"
Among its primary selling points are new tools for searching and viewing the contents of a PC; communications features; and a lighter desktop appearance with transparent objects.
Why did they not just call it "Mac OS X" then? Vista... geesh.
Turnabout == fair play.
</optimistic>
Does anyone think this will stop Microsoft from pulling similar stunts?
*earth oscillates from the force of millions of Slashdotters' heads shaking*
The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me
Sue for the name, or be sued I guess. Sounds like they have a case for the trademark being theirs as a name, but these cases always seem silly to me. Clearly "Windows Vista" is not the same as "Vista" the software company. It's doubtful anyone is going to confuse them.
On the other hand, you damn well bet if I happened to own a company by the name of the up-and-coming Windows OS, I would be making sure my name was EVERYWHERE right about the time the new OS came out. Hell, I'd even offer to sell them the name for $500 million or something, make it worth my time.
MS deserves to be sued for picking such an un-attractive name for an OS. :P
Windows 2000? Yeah, that works. XP? Sure. ME? Not great, but it is better than "Vista". How many people are going to actually know what "Vista" means, anyway? I'd put 20 on people thinking that the newest incarnation of Windows is some spanish distribution.
"Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
Windows XP Service Pack 3
I am still trying to figure out why apple is letting tigerdirect make its operating system. :(
I find the name Vista to be very appropriate. I propose that on every new install, an image of the Terminator pops up, saying "Hasta la vista, baby!!!"
"If they called it Windows Garbage, would people still buy it? Yeah, they'd buy it," said David Burd, [. . .] "They've got something like 90 percent penetration in the world of operating systems."
Uh, wouldn't "Windows Hegemony" have been a better choice?
"The television is the retina of the mind's eye" - Videodrome
When my company wants to propose a name a new product, one of the steps is to go to the USPTO to see if somebody in the same industry has a registered trademark on it. If so, we drop the proposed name and go on to the next. Seems elementary to me. We also try to get the .com domain if at all possible. Lastly, we do a google search to see if the name candidate is diluted or already in use as a claimed (but not registered) trademark. Sometimes we find that the name has negative connotations. Anyway, why doesn't MS hire people who do these elementary steps for them?
Perhaps they felt that "vista" was too diluted to be a trademark on its own, and/or that using the trademark "Microsoft Vista" is sufficiently distinct from any other use of "vista", but these arguments seem lazy and weak to me.
Other than that, it's a pretty good name.
Right now, the name can be changed without Microsoft caring too much. If it gets to release time, there is no way in hell Microsoft will change the name. They'll just throw lawyers at him until he gives in. If it doesn't work in the USA, they'll harass him in other countries.
Right now, he's got a clear advantage. If he makes every move to completely stop their use of the mark 'Vista' (as opposed to licensing it to them or something), then they'll probably change the name sharpish. But if he shows any sign of weakness, they'll just steamroller him into submission.
I say Microsoft should continue with the emoticon tradition started with XP and go for like =( or 8| or something...
Why all the people saying microsoft should have googled for the name first? Obviosuly, microsoft would have used the msn search. Perhaps that explains why they didn't realize that the name is already taken.
what http://vistawindows.com/ is gonna do.
Naming is important, but unfortunately that anecdote is untrue.
English is easier said than done.
Heck, why call it Windows Vista, when Windows Fiesta! sounds even worse?
How about "Windows Fiasco!"?
deus does not exist but if he does
Wall was one of the early inverstors in the Caldera/SCO scam.
The company also owns some dubious energy company (most likely a tax-writeoff stunt).
MS knew must have known about Vista, and this might poosibly be a somewhat indirect way of funelling money to further finance the SCO litigation machine.
If you put on your tinfoil hat, this name is not an accident, but a way to finance SCO without alerting the antitrust watch dogs.
-- Another senseless waste of fine bytes.
How did someone let them register _windows_ then. Afetr all, it's a common word.
Word History: The source of our word window is a vivid metaphor. Window comes to us from the Scandinavian invaders and settlers of England in the early Middle Ages. Although we have no record of the exact word they gave us, it was related to Old Norse vindauga, "window," a compound made up of vindr, "wind," and auga, "eye," reflecting the fact that at one time windows contained no glass. The metaphor "wind eye" is of a type beloved by Norse and Old English poets and is called a kenning; other examples include oar-steed for "ship" and whale-road for "sea." Recently we have restored to the 800-year-old word window a touch of its poetic heritage, using it figuratively in such phrases as launch window, weather window, and window of opportunity or vulnerability.
I gave up with the idea of an useful sig...
While the threat of a lawsuit from MS is certainly enough to keep one up at night (and personally I don't think they'd try to sue Vista since they held their name first)... this is great publicity for vista.com.
No one heard of them, and now millions of people might accidentially come across their website or read about them in regards to this potential lawsuit.
Besides, they don't appear to be a software company -- from the looks of their website, they do website hosting and design, ecommerce.
-David
Or enforce some truth in advertising laws.
Make them call it Microsoft Bloated Buggy Pile Of Evil And Mind Crushing Pig Shit That Makes Baby Jesus Cry
Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. Just mod me down. Thank you and good night.
They should call it "Quits".
^=====^
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
Yes: Hasta la Vista, Windows
it's also a no-brainer that it's asking for a trademark infringement suit
I wouldn't have said so - Microsoft shouldn't have a trademark on "windows". It's like if Microsoft trademarked the word "server" today, marketed a product called "Microsoft Server", and then, in twenty years time, sued everybody else who uses the word "server" or something that resembles it. Sounds completely bizarre, but it's essentially what Microsoft did with the word "windows".
Also, IIRC, Microsoft didn't/couldn't trademark "windows" in some places, which is why they sued Lindows in more than one country.
Remember wxWindows, excellent library (better than QT IMHO)? It existed for a very long time, but Microsoft recently forced them to rename to wxWidgets.
I happen to work for a software company with Vista in the name... 'Vista Entertainment Solutions' and our product is marketed as 'Vista'. It has been since 1995.
http://www.vista.co.nz/
I'm not sure as to the extent this will affect us.