Microsoft vs Lindows
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Microsoft Corporation. vs Lindows, Inc is a court case brought by Microsoft against Lindows, Inc, claiming that the name "Lindows" was a violation of its trademark "Windows."
In addition to the United States, Microsoft has also sued Lindows in Sweden, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and, most recently, Canada.
In response to these lawsuits, Lindows has launched ChoicePC.com, which allows people to purchase lifetime Lindows memberships that includes a free copy of LindowsOS, free LindowsOS upgrades for life, and a ChoicePC.com t-shirt, for $100 US. All money from the memberships goes towards helping Lindows in its legal battle against Microsoft.
Lindows has also retaliated against Microsoft's lawsuits with Lin---s (http://lin---s.com/) (pronounced Lindash). Consumers and resellers from countries in which Microsoft has blocked the sale of Lindows products due to the trademark lawsuits are encouraged to visit the Lin---s website instead of Lindows.com to purchase the Lin---s software, which is identical to Lindows except for the name change.
Lindows changed its name to Linspire in April, 2004, to avoid the constant legal pressure over its name from Microsoft. Michael Robertson called the action "Sextuple Jeopardy", which is an extension of the term double jeopardy.
External links
- Microsoft Legal News (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/legalnews.asp)
- ChoicePC.com (http://www.choicepc.com)