Lindows goes on trademark offensive

Lindows today filed a motion to dismiss the pending trademark lawsuit filed by Microsoft against the company over the use of the term 'LindowsOS'.

In the lawsuit, the Redmond giant maintains that the use of Lindows and LindowsOS will cause consumer confusion with Microsoft's Windows brand.

Michael Robertson, chief executive at Lindows, said: "We're looking forward to showing the court the widespread use of the term 'windows', or variations thereof, by literally hundreds of companies which are not endorsed or sponsored by Microsoft.

"The fact that Microsoft has chosen not to sue these companies demonstrates that their true motivation in this case is to crush competition from a promising new technology which threatens their illegally obtained monopoly."

But Dai Davis, internet lawyer at Nabarro Nathanson, said that Microsoft owns the Windows trademark and the question is how far does that monopoly extend?

He explained that in recent similar cases EasyJet had lost suits against companies using the 'easy' prefix, and McDonalds had lost against McKebab.

"Windows is an English word, but Lindows is made up, so Microsoft could face an uphill struggle," said Davis. "However, it may well come down to how much cash the company has got to fight with."

He added that, because Lindows doesn't really have much of a reputation yet, the name LindowsOS may not be worth much to them. "So it doesn't make economic sense to fight it," he said.

Microsoft has already struck a blow against Lindows as part of the initial legal process by demanding access to the company's entire database of names, email addresses and physical addresses of people interested in the yet to be unveiled Linux-based operating system.

Both Lindows.com's motion to dismiss, and Microsoft's motion for preliminary injunctions, are tentatively scheduled for hearing on 1 February, after the original 11 January hearing was delayed.