Dutch Court Rules Against Microsoft In Lindows Dispute

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

04 June 2004

The fortunes of Microsoft in its international legal battle with Linux software vendor, Lindows Inc. over the latter's alleged infringement of the Windows trademark appear to be turning, following a ruling delivered by the Amsterdam District Court on May 27.

Denying Microsoft's request for an injunction to stop Lindows selling its products (renamed Linspire in an attempt to placate the software giant) in the Benelux region, the Dutch court supported the assertion that not every use of the Lindows trade name can be alleged to infringe Microsoft's trademark.

Speaking to the eWeek news service on Wednesday, US intellectual property expert, Glenn Peterson explained that the issue before the Amsterdam court was whether the injunction, which precluded the use of the Lindows name in conjunction with the firm's products in the Benelux countries, also precluded the use of 'Lindows Inc.' as the name of the company in the region.

"The court answered in the negative and soundly rejected Microsoft's claim," he observed.

Effectively, this ruling will allow Lindows to resume selling its Linspire products in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, as long as the firm continues to state wherever the name is used that it is in no way affiliated with Microsoft or the Windows operating system.

This follows the revelation in the United States last month that Microsoft's appeal against a ruling earlier this year which suggested that 'windows' was a generic term used by the technology industry prior to its launch of the operating system by the same name, had been rejected.

Following the denial of Microsoft's request to appeal the verdict, a trial examining the issues in the United States is likely to be moved forward.

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