Looks like Linus Torvalds is going back to court, but this time he"ll be in an Australian court room. Linux Australia Inc. has asked for the help of Linus Torvalds to once again save Linux from being trademarked for profit.
A company by the name of Linux Australia Pty Ltd applied to trademark itself (in doing so trademark Linux). It wasn"t until September 9, 2003 that Linux Australia Inc. received a letter from this company asking for their cooperation. Back in 1996 Linus Torvalds had to face a similar case. William Della Croce registered Linux as a trademark in the U.S.A., and soon afterwards started demanding royalties from U.S. Linux vendors for using its name. Luckily Linus Torvalds won the case, and now Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
I don"t have any doubt that this problem in Australia will be resolved. If Linus Torvalds could do it in the USA, then can surely do it in Australia. Still I have to wonder how many times similar instances will popup over the next few years in other countries.