Torvalds steps into Linux trademark fight

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Hmmm ...

"If I tell you I run Windows, do you have ANY doubt about it being an MS product/OS?"

Actually, yes. If you are aware of X Windows, I may be confused. In any event:

(1) I find it interesting that your feelings were hurt by an "insult," and then you threw out "Is there anyone that foolish here???"

(2) you may wish to look into trademark law. While most trademarks cover only one company's products, there is nothing that requires that to be the case. In fact, no law requires products to be similar in order to be labeled with the same trademark.

(3) and in direct response to your question, Microsoft tried that argument with the judge in the Lindows case. However, the judge, and the appelate court rejected it. While you may have a point outside the law, it doesn't fly in court. The law in the US prevents me from trademarking a generic word (like "car") and hijacking that word from other companies.

Microsoft's argument was "maybe 'windows' was generic in 1995, but it's now associated with Microsoft, so it should be a valid mark." And the court's reply was "no matter how much money you put into the mark, if it was generic when you registered it, it is not a valid trademark." And the court was about to begin hearing evidence (some from Microsoft in a case against Apple) about whether "windows" was generic in 1995. Bill Gates filed a paper with the court saying the word was generic at least as far back as the 1970s. Microsoft then started filing cases in other countries, where Lindows was "in business" only because it has a website, and winning preliminary injunctions based on trademark law there.

However, the US case ran a big risk of having the trademark invalid in the US, (a) affecting Microsoft's larget market, and (b) causing those other cases to be questioned, since they were based on Microsoft having a valid trademark in the US that pre-dated the Lindows trademark (a refiled trademark in a European country would have newer than the Lindows mark).

Suddenly Microsoft chose to send $20 million to Lindows, under the conditions that the company change its name to Linspire and never tell anyone about it. Hmmm.

Posted by: mlybbert   Posted on: 08/11/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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