THE DUTCH COURTS, who were so tough on the Linux maker Lindows, have stopped Microsoft briefs from putting the boot in.
The Dutch wigged ones had previously ordered the company to change its name from Lindows so it did not violate Microsoft's trademark. However Vole did not think that Lindows name change to Linspire went far enough and took the company back to the court that made the original ruling.
According to the IDG wire, this time the Amsterdamned court sent Vole away with a flea in its ear. Judge Sj. A. Rullmann says in her ruling that not every use of the business name Lindows infringes on the Windows trademark.
Lindows currently uses the Lindows name only in the small print on its Web site and product documentation and clearly states that it is not affiliated with Microsoft, she noted. She said that the use is not in violation of the court's January ruling that barred Lindows from using the name to sell its version of the Linux operating system.
It has been a bad week for the legal eagles of the Redmond Giant. At the beginning, the federal appeals court declined Microsoft's request to review a key pretrial ruling against the company. Now a jury reviewing the U.S. case would be instructed to consider whether "windows" was a generic term before Microsoft introduced software with that name in 1985.
Source:
The INQ!
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