Software startup Lindows, which was sued by Microsoft last month for alleged trademark infringement, is hoping to have the case thrown out of court on a technicality.
CW360.com report the latest on Lindows.com which is developing a version of the Linux operating system that can run applications written for Microsoft"s Windows operating system, as well as for Linux.
Microsoft, in a lawsuit filed in December with the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, asked for an injunction that would prevent Lindows.com from releasing a product that uses the Lindows name. The software maker argued that the yet-to-be-released operating system, to be called LindowsOS, would create confusion for consumers in the marketplace.
Lindows has since argued that it can"t be sued in a state that it has never done business in, chief executive officer Michael Robertson said. Lindows filed a motion to dismiss the case on 2 January in which it urged the Washington court to throw out Microsoft"s case because Lindows is outside the Washington court"s jurisdiction.
At the same time, Lindows filed a complaint against Microsoft in the District Court for the Southern District of California in which it makes a similar claim.
"We have put in a motion to dismiss the case because Microsoft sued us in Seattle and we"ve never done any business in the state of Washington," said Robertson, "In fact, we"ve never done business at all."
Over at ZDNet News they add:
Lindows said a hearing is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 1 on the company"s motion and on Microsoft"s motion for a preliminary injunction that would halt use of the Lindows name. Microsoft said the Lindows name could confuse the public, but Lindows argues that Microsoft doesn"t pursue legal action against many other companies that employ "windows" or similar words in their names.
Lindows launched in October and hopes to sell a version 1.0 edition of its software early this year for $99. The company missed a deadline to release a sneak preview in December, blaming the delay on the Microsoft suit.