Local - San Diego Daily Transcript Monday March 18 08:26 PM EST Lindows.com says ruling is first win in Microsoft battle Lindows.com Inc. officials say they've won the first round in the software company's trademark infringement fight with Microsoft Corp. In a ruling issued late Friday, a Seattle federal court denied Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Lindows.com from using the terms "LindowsOS" and "Lindows.com." Microsoft claims Lindows.com and LindowsOS, its as-yet-unreleased product, might be confused with the computer giant's own Windows operating system. In a statement released Monday, Lindows.com Chief Executive Officer Michael Robertson said he hopes this means Microsoft will let Lindows continue to develop its product "without further impedance." "We're obviously satisfied with the court's ruling," said Robertson, perhaps best known for his role as founder of MP3.com Inc. "We've shown we can defend ourselves against a much larger corporation and we'll continue to battle in a trial if necessary." Microsoft spokesman Jon Murchinson said in a telephone interview Monday that the company was disappointed with the ruling, but would protect the Windows trademark as "one of the most recognizable brands in the world." Microsoft hasn't formally decided whether it will appeal or move to trial, Murchinson said, but was scheduled to participate in a status conference with Judge John Coughenour on Tuesday. Microsoft is represented by Preston Gates and Seed Intellectual Property Law Group. On Friday the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington issued its ruling, saying "Lindows.com has presented sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption of validity of the Windows mark. ... The Court also finds that the balance of hardships does not tip sharply in favor of Microsoft." Lindows' attorney John Benassi, a patent attorney with Carmel Valley-based Brobeck, Phleger and Harrison, called the decision a "huge victory." Lindows' officials have argued that Microsoft has allowed many computer-related companies to use variations of the Windows name, theoretically making Microsoft's suit without merit because the trademark has been more or less abandoned. At this point in the case, the court did not find the trademark to be invalid, but rejected Microsoft's motion on a procedural basis as it "failed to make a sufficient showing of likelihood of success on the merits." The legal skirmish aside, Lindows has yet to release a consumer product. An initial "sneak preview" of the Linux- and Windows Emulator-based operating system was issued to a select group of techies in January to mixed reviews. A second, upgraded version of the preview was scheduled to be released last week, but has been delayed until possibly the end of the month, Lindows spokeswoman Cheryl Schwarzman said Monday. "You've been a tremendous help in identifying issues with our first Sneak Preview and giving us your input on the future direction of our product, which we believe will help shape the future of our company," Robertson said in a note to so-called "Insiders" posted on the company's Web site. "There are large feature improvements that you have told us are critically important in your decision to examine alternatives. Perhaps one of the bigger ones is being able to open all Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word documents with just one click." Reviewers have been quick to opine about their LindowsOS experience, some noting the system is easy to install, others noting they couldn't get key programs like Norton antivirus to run with the operating system. Joe Crawford, a Web developer and designer with San Diego-based Web development firm Avencom, offered this review after seeing a demonstration of LindowsOS by Robertson at a San Diego Linux User Group meeting in February: "It seems to me that the goal of desktop Linux, merged with transitioning people slowly away from Windows is a pretty solid one. Whether Lindows.com will be able to overcome the significant technical challenges remains to be seen. "In the end I think LindowsOS will be one of the more interesting Linux distributions, and will have an impact on the open source movement in a big way, or die trying," he said. Lindows spokeswoman Schwarzman said she's not sure how many beta versions of LindowsOS will be tested before a consumer-ready version is available. It might be ready by the end of the year, she said. The product is expected to be priced at about $100. Related Links: Lindows.com: www.lindows.com Microsoft Corp.: www.microsoft.com San Diego Linux Users Group: www.sdlug.org ======================================================================== Copyright (c) 2002 [51]Yahoo! and [52]San Diego Daily Transcript. All References http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/sddt/20020318/lo/lindows_com_says_ruling_is_first_win_in_microsoft_battle_1.html 52. http://www.sddt.com/