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Vista Trademark Holder Sues Microsoft
Liam Cromar writes "Philippe Gildas, a French television presenter is suing Microsoft for 'violation of intellectual property' — in particular the use of the 'Vista' trademark. It appears that Gildas registered the trademark two years prior to Microsoft's application, planning to use the trademark for a new television channel, Télé Vista, which was to be launched later this year. Apparently, Gildas believes that Microsoft's 'hogging of the limelight' presents an 'obstacle to the launch'. Gildas has not, however, registered the Vista trademark in categories of activity 9 and 42, which cover software. With this in mind, his case might be hard to prove."
Perhaps we should have rules that send people into maximum security prisons for five days when they're frivolous lawsuits are found out. Second time, a year. Oh, and make sure the lawyers that helped them out get quadruple the sentence, plus permanent disbarment.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
It really hurts me to take microsoft's side.
Maybe they have registered under the software clausule?
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Microsoft is presenting Vista as the answer to your media worries as well - UPnP out of the box etc. Claiming it's "only software" seems a bit narrow thinking.
it's in my head
Given that he registered the trademark a different category and could have a hard time arguing his case because of it, this sounds like a publicity stunt to garner some attention to his service before launch. After all, his complaint is that MS Vista is hogging the limelight; this will get him some of that limelight.
"No one likes working in a hamster wheel, and your shop smells of cedar shavings from here." - TaleSpinner
But if a product is not even in the same market (OS versus Television station) there is no trademark infringement. Hence there is a company called prime which teaches truck driving and a company called prime that delivers medical services. Seems like a quick attempt to get money by somone who cane really make it themselves.
IANAL. There is no claim under trademark legislation as far as I can tell. It is unlikely that anyone would confuse a TV broadcast with software. IP is NOT protected under EU law per se. There can be copyright (which doesn't apply here) and patent (which also doesn't apply here). Bet he loses. And of course, being French there will be loads of US comment criticising his attempt. For once, it will probably be justified.
Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
I can't believe I'm siding with Microsoft against a trademark troll. Time to turn in my geek license.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
wasn't there a vista windows in redmond that was going to sue for the name as well?
a quick google gave me an australian vista windows but i can't seem to fine the redmond one...
~/.sig: No such file or directory
There are different categories for a reason. Besides, how often do you see Microsoft referring to it as just "Vista" as opposed to "Windows Vista" in advertising?
Why the hell did slashdot accept this stupid story?
... Vista is marketed for media purposes as well.
Definitely a long shot and most likely will fail, but judges can be incompetent and can be persuaded to side with things that may technically make sense but are spiritually flawed.
I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
Dresser is the company that should be suing micro$oft. The http://www.wayne.com/internet/businessunits/wayne/ products-vista.cfm Vista series fuel dispensers have been at a gas station near you for many years.
Yep, anytime a marketing person needs a little free exposure, all he has to do is file a 'publicity suit' that features OSS or MS, and he can count on /. to scoop up the story and help flog whatever he's trying to sell.
to confuse a television channel named Télé Vista with the windows product from the microsoft corporation.
...season premieres were completely missing the promised object-oriented searchable channel lineup and new scripting language for closed captioning.
Vista is a single word, it is a common word, and it's in the dictionary. Whomever allowed such a trademark should not be allowed to have any job that requires any type of logical thought. Maybe if he had Trademarked "Tele Vista" and it was Microsoft's Tele Vista, he would have some sort of case thought probably not.
MPAA trademarked it lol
Doesn't it mean "sight" in Portuguese? How can you sue someone for using a normal everyday word which is useful to describe a product?
A Frenchman vs. Microsoft. Whichever way shall a poor slashbot direct his misplaced rage at personal inadequacies today?
Is France still gay? Is Microsoft still evil? Help me decide because the only thing I know for certain is to vote republican.
Is this for real?
I think this shows the downside of MS moving into every market imaginable. I don't think this guy will win the suit against MS, but the fact that MS is heavily involved in entertainment and home electronics gives him a slim hope. If MS truly only made an operating system, and didn't bolt (bundle) a bunch of other crap onto it, they'd be a lot more immune from sillyness like this.
Just because products have the same name doesn't always mean that there's any kind of trademark violation.
Consider Blizzard's Starcraft vs. Star Craft RV's.
from Vista sales.
As Bill would say in his initial letter to software developers, we must actively defend the intellectual property rights of the originators - and since Vista is French, I presume he'll back this 100 percent.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
The argument may be one of convergence. Would he have too much trouble digging up Microsoft marketing material heralding the convergence of computers and televisions? Interviews with top Microsoft execs about their plans for said convergence? If the two product categories in fact converge, how does trademark law accommodate that? If computers become in fact and function equivalent to televisions, then a trademark in the television realm could reasonable confuse customers if it's similar to a trademark in the computer realm - when the realms significantly overlap.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
I always thought it was lame of Microsoft to choose Vista, since the VistA medical records software predates MS-Windows by many, many years.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
Error:
Basically, he's calling his network tele (in French) + sight (in Spanish).
... itself?
A television station called "Television" - that's clearly in competition with
The appropriate ruling would be to allow MS to use the trademark except as it applies to covered areas. If such a ruling came to pass (and GWumBy has taken great pains to ensure there won't be any pro-American bias in a French court) "Vista TV" or any sort of "Vista Channel" would be a clear no-no as may be "Vista Media". As long as MS doesn't intend their new OS to be used in media applications, they are in the clear. The difference between this and Apple is that MS doesn't have thirty years to work in a few fingers before they start pounding away.
First story I've seen in /. in which majority sides with Microsoft. It is a sad day...
Trademarks are used so that the consumer can identify the product, they work like a guarantee. Trials based on trademark infringement should only be possible when people are fooled. I don't see how anyone could reasonably think Gildas' show and Microsoft's OS are related in any way. Unfortunately, trademarks are more understood nowadays as a form of property right which makes no sense.
\u262D = \u5350
That's the big problem with FOSSies: they don't have an actual moral compass, they are simply contrarian to anything Microsoft.
But fortunately there are people who believe what they believe for good reason... and we have no problem being on Microsoft's side when approprite, or in bashing Apple for their brutal monopolistic practices, or in criticizing Linux in contentedly chasing Windows 95's tail lights for over a decade.
In other news, I hear window makers are also going to sue Microsoft. The produce industry is going to sue Apple (both Apple AND Macintosh... it's a double whammy!). The aliens from both "Alien" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" will be suing Apple over the iPod. The estate of Charles Shultz is going to sue Linux over their bastardization of the character Linus's name. "The Honeymooners" will be suing Norton Anti-virus. The wine industry will be suing the creators of WINE. The dude from Pulp Fiction will be suing the creators of GIMP.
Oh, and villiage idiots from all over the world will be suing George W Bush for damaging their reputation.
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
All Ballmer needs to do is raise the chair above his head and scowl, no need to actually throw it. They're French, they'll surrender.
"Now I'm seriously serious!" - Serious Sam
Next up will be an attempt to have Microsoft move their world headquarters to Southern California.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
So, if he wins, can the VA sue him for use of Vista since they've been using VistA for their EMR far longer than he's even thought about his little television channel?
The previous comment is purposely vague and generalized, but all of the facts are completely true.
Before I was laid off, there was some joking going around the office about Microsoft's new OS release... Our company has owned the trademark for more than 7 years, but there was no word from the suits that we were ever going to sue Microsoft.
I thought it would have been funny if we had.
grey wolf
LET FORTRAN DIE!
It comes from the Latin videre: "to see".
Best Slashdot Co
I think MS Vista media edition, the version that "specializes" in DVR capabilities and what not might fall under "entertainment and media categories".
I believe WebCT/Blackboard were using the Vista name way before either of these companies. Here's a link to their product webpage.
/ Learning_System/vista.htm
http://www.blackboard.com/products/Academic_Suite
Cy
I already registered it as a word. Funny how these things tend to work out.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
of the ignorant American. As an American living in another country, I have the opportunity to see "us" as others do and I have come to the conclusion that Americans' collective self-esteem has sunk to an all-time low, thanks in no small part to our current abject political failures, and that the only way that some Americans can feel good about themselves to lob gratuitous insults, however weak, at other countries. Maybe much the world thinks we're a bunch of ignorant yokels because so many of us act that way.
BTW, it's amazing to note that you're so proud of you pathetic attempt at humor that you post the exact same comment elsewhere in this thread. Then again, it's probably the sum total of your days exercise for the "thinkin box". I'll bet you "haid" hurts, Jethro.
I mean this one. This could prevent Microsoft to enter the TV (read as: video, entertainment) industry.
I expect a huge settlement paid from MS.
You go to a country where that word is not "part of the language".
Have a look at the Lindows spat: failed until it got to a scandanavian country.
a solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal.
Epicor Software has had a real live software product called Vista for over 10 years. My guess is that Microsoft has already paid these guys for rights to use their trademark for an OS. I have a couple of clients (machine shops) that use it. The latest version is .NET
based, and the database server can be based on Progress or Microsoft's SQL.
There's no place like 127.0.0.1
From what I remember, there was a similar trademark suit in the UK a few years back. Apparently Jaguar the auto-maker was upset that Apple called Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar". Apple was forced to drop the "Jaguar" name from Mac OS X 10.2 in the UK for this reason. Because apparently alot of people confused a $50,000 car with a $150 computer operating system. They were also sued over the Tiger moniker a couple of years ago, that time by Tiger Direct.
I'm just waiting for a bunch of leopards in Africa to sue over OS X 10.5...
Because it's not worth the other penny.
Yes.. there is a big difference between a television station and an "OS". But isn't Microsoft trying to worm it's way into the entertainment industry? There is a Microsoft Windows Media Center edition based on XP. Would a Vista-based version of Media Center (meant to be played/viewed/used on a home television) infringe on the other guys patent?
So if Microsoft sticks with just making an OS, or what they call an OS, then it's all good. But if they make an OS that integrates into your home entertainment center (TV) then it's could be competing and thus making the lawsuit slightly less frivolous.
Vista is software? I thought it was a headache and an expensive, taxed gift card/store credit after you return it.
Oh wait, no, I can't even return it.
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
Jack Thompson threatening to sue MS over Halo 3:
/ 2146236
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/23
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Like "Windows"?
http://www.byte.com/art/9511/sec13/art32.htm - ShowCase Vista, not in use anymore, but first used in the early 90s.
If I'm not too mistaken, the codename so far would be "Vienna". Which just happens to be the capital of a lovely little country in Europe. I doubt people would enjoy being associated with a deadweight OS.
Then again, it would've been quite fitting for the current version of Windows. After all, people from Vienna are notoriously morbid, and "everyone" is very concerned with being, after their demise, what's called "a scheene Leich'" (a beautiful corpse).
And, IMO, Vista has accomplished this goal by any definition.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Um, what about MSNBC? Is it MSN BC, or MS NBC? Microsoft Network Broadcasting Company, or Microsoft National Broadcasting Company? (I s'pose I could look it up, but that's not my point.) Either way, MS has it's fingers in the media arena and the French may actually have a point...though the odds of actually winning are another case entirely.
Who tagged this 'Patents'? Indeed, why is it filed under 'Patent Pending'. This is intellectual property, sure, but not patents. Actually trademark law is fairly sane in terms of what it offers - a guarantee that goods really are provided by the people who claim to provide them. And as the summary points out, the same trademark can be used by different people in different areas of business.
Wouldn't huge penalties like that increase the inflation of sentences? Getting jail time for copyright infringement suddenly becomes much more reasonable when you can end up in jail for silly "crimes" like frivolous lawsuits. Not everything can be solved by tougher punishments! Some might even argue that such measures solve nothing at all...
He registered the name "Vista" for lots of things, including software, as you can see on this copy of the name deposit (in french of course) : http://elephant.pcinpact.com/images/bd/news/42182. png
yes, plz help!!!!
it sucks
Don't forget the Apple Computer/Apple Records problem ...
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I agree whole heartedly with you. A further point in your favor: they are selling Vista(tm?) PC's
.: (m.p.) Vista is not hardware
:-\
as in a PC that has Vista on it.
PC = Hardware
Vista = Software
here is proof: my favorite foolproof test hypothesis.
Q: "What's the difference between hardware and software?"
A: "You can kick hardware"
Can I kick a Vista PC (a PC preloaded/sold/running Vista)
YES, and boy is it fun... but thats for a different post
Can I kick Vista?
Sadly no. But if we could you know that we would. and seeing as there isn't anyones foot up vista's rear end I'd say its un-kickable
*** for more fun proofs see the end
I don't care what they say Vista can do. IT IS SOFTWARE. does it exist only in a digital format contained in computer memory, disk storage, or a medium such as CD/DVD? Yeah that means it is software. Vista is an operating system, no more no less (give or take the fluff and bloat they fill it with aka applications which by golly are more software)
They may or may not have registered it as a trademark in other fields, but as a matter of discussion of what it actually is there is a clear answer.
**** Bonus proofs
Statement: If I can't kick Vista than it isn't hardware.
Given: Vista is either hardware or software
Given: I can't kick Vista
-> Vista is Software
proof by contradiction is much more enjoyable here:
vista = hardware
if hardware -> kickable(Vista)
if kickable(Vista) -> E(x) : Kicks(x, Vista)
but !E(x) : FootInRearEnd(x, Vista)
Contradiction: Vista != Hardware
"Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny" ~Frank Zappa
EdelFactor
ViSta is the trademark for Visual Statistics, a sort-of-FOSS (free, but source access is "moderated") numerical analysis/visualization package for windows, macintosh, and unix.
http://forrest.psych.unc.edu/research/index.html
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Actually, considering your geek license: simply say that Vista isn't any more patentable than Windows.
Microsoft is not the most evil & greedy thing in this world there are others, such as patent trolls.
Company with trademark "Air" sues owner of trademark "Water"!
I don't feel like it...
I agree, that was pretty far offtopic and really more trolling than anything.
uhh... her profile is set to private.
For when you want your trademark to cover Everything.
Obviously nobody posting has ever heard of trademark dilution , where even if a product is in a totally different category, if there is potential for confusion of a "strong" trademark, infringement may have occurred. You cannot create a company selling T-shirts branded "Coke", because you will be taken to court by Coke for exactly this reason, even though Coca-Cola company sells beverages, and you would be selling clothes.
i know....just get her to add you as a friend....i dunno...
of possible confusion. They got on their case because in the agreement they made to settle the previous lawsuits, one of the requirements was that Apple Computer would absolutely not get into the Music Publishing business. Apple Corp. argued that iTunes and the iPod was in breach of that previous agreement.
Gildas is an old pillard of French TV (married with a tv/radio host around his age), he started being on the air before TV was in color at a time where France was still using 110v for it's appliances.
He already manages and is deeply involved in the biggest private TV channel (Canal +). He produce a lot of stuff. He is in no way in need of any publicity for his channel, especially since his vista channel is aimed at French old people. Who never heard of the intarweb and are happy with their minitels.
So the frivolous lawsuit is in this case is really far fetched. He got a product name, want to protect it. He heard of microsoft because he might use it on his fancy color typewriter they gave him at the office. But that's all.
I'am not saying he's a poor good guy. He's a business shark. But from the old world and laught at words like neteconomy, VC capitals and may never have heard of the word web 2.0. He make his money the old way, it works for him, its not at his age that he will change.
Error:
Hmmmmm.....
Buena Vista - A film studio.
Monte Vista - A high school in Danville, CA.
F-16 VISTA - A variant of the Lockheed-Martin F-16 fighter aircraft.
Dodge / Plymouth Colt Vista, a compact MPV licensed from Mitsubishi.
Toyota Vista - A passenger car produced by Toyota until 2003.
Vista Cruiser, a station wagon produced by Oldsmobile until 1977.
Thomas Vista, a school bus produced by Thomas Built Buses until 1998.
Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting - Manufacturer of low voltage outdoor lighting systems.
Now, in relation to TV/Video:
VistaVision, a 35mm motion picture film format.
And, in the realm of SOFTWARE:
Vista and VistaPro, Amiga 3D landscape generation software.
The stupid half-wit IS NOT original.
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
We all know Microsoft's tacticts to go after anyone that dare to use "Windows" in its title. With that in mind, Philippe Gildas (who is BTW a very highly regarded presenter in France and not some Joe Shmo who wants to make a quick buck) might have decided to strike first. You can be sure that Microsoft would have sued him, had he launched his TV station. Oh, and Gildas DID register Vista for software use.
Actually, his statement was quite fair, and would have been if he'd said Germans, French, Irish, or Alaskan. There are, quite definitely, "some" Americans that feel that way, as in any culture (or lack of (oh, I went there))
Maybe he just wants the courts to say 'no, Microsoft is not infringing on your trademark'. Why should he do that? So that Microsoft can then not turn around and sue him for using Vista, cause Microsoft will then have given him all the arguments he needs when fighting hoff his claim...
The GP post stated that it pains him to side with MS.
i.e. he believes they are in the right, thus he does the honest thing and sides with them.
But, and this is a big but, it always hurts when somebody who you consider despicable is found out to be in the correct side of a given issue.
Our moral compass is right, thank you very much (frivolous law suits against anybody, including MS, should not exist in an ideal world), your strawmen, cinycism and reading comprehension skills could do with a brush up.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.