Judge maintains "windows" is generic, and permits Microsoft"s suit to continue.
A U.S. federal judge has denied Microsoft"s request for reconsideration on a ruling that, if granted, would have barred upstart Linux vendor Lindows.com from using the name Lindows, citing Microsoft"s own evidence as a reason for his decision.
Microsoft had requested reconsideration of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington Judge John C. Coughenour"s first ruling, saying the judge had "a fundamental misapprehension" of the issues and law at stake. Coughenour had ruled that Microsoft did not supply sufficient evidence to prove that it would be hurt by Lindows" use of its name. He also suggested that Microsoft"s grasp on the trademark for its operating system Windows could be tenuous, as the term "windows" might be generic.
In the new ruling this week, Coughenour denied any mistakes of law in his original ruling and ruled he had properly applied the test of generic use to the term "windows." Coughenour based his ruling, in part, on information supplied by Microsoft in its original filings against Lindows. The ruling will allow Lindows, based in San Diego, to continue to use its name pending the outcome of a trial that is set to begin in April 2003.