A district court in the US will start hearing arguments this week in a trademark dispute between Lindows.com and Microsoft.

The dispute, which started in December, is delaying the launch of the full version of LindowsOS, which is viewed by some as a genuine alternative to Microsoft's Windows platform for desktop PCs.

LindowsOS is a Linux-based operating system that can run Windows applications, removing a major obstacle to Linux adoption on the enterprise desktop - namely software incompatibility.

Microsoft alleges that both the Lindows.com company name and the LindowsOS product infringe its Windows trademark, and may confuse customers. It is trying to stop the firm using both names.

Legal wrangling threatens to delay the launch of the product, currently scheduled for release later this year.

Last week, Lindows.com released details of how it intended to fight the case and argued that Microsoft is using its trademark as a form of anti-competitive practice.

The Linux firm said there are hundreds of other software products that use the term windows or a derivative such as Win, some of which are operating systems, but Microsoft has not filed a trademark infringement suit against any of them.

"The fact that Microsoft is targeting only Lindows.com shows its real motivation is to stop a potential rival, and not that it really believes there is confusion concerning our product name," argued Michael Robertson, chief executive of Lindows.com.

The company commissioned an independent survey to disprove the customer confusion argument. A total of 750 users registered on the Lindows.com site were questioned, but no respondents believed that Lindows.com or LindowsOS were affiliated with Microsoft.

Lindows.com originally offered a settlement to Microsoft, in which Lindows.com would retain its company name but change its product title. The offer was declined by Microsoft.

No Microsoft spokesperson was available for comment.

www.lindows.com/opposition