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Dutch Court Gives Lindows a Pass

Dutch Court Gives Lindows a Pass

The Dutch court where Microsoft has had its way with Lindows - to the point of basically getting Lindows kicked out of the country - has said "enough."

Although Lindows was forced to start doing business as Linspire and even changed the name of its operating system to Linspire because courts in Europe saw things Microsoft way about trademark infringement, it was still using the name Lindows in the fine print, which annoyed Microsoft. So Microsoft's lawyers asked a so-far-obliging Dutch court to order Lindows to destroy every vestige of the Lindows name, but the court reckoned differently and ruled that "Not every use of the business name Lindows infringes on the Windows trademark."

It said Lindows' use of the name in such things as product documentation is in keeping with its standing order barring Lindows from using the name to sell its Linux operating system.

More Stories By Maureen O'Gara

Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025.

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