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Lindows.com, Inc. today announced that the Microsoft Corporation has begun legal proceedings in Canada against Lindows.com, Inc. to prohibit the company from using the marks "Lindows", "Lindows.com", and "LindowsOS.
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SAN DIEGO -- February 20,
2004 -- Lindows.com, Inc.
(www.lindows.com)
today announced that the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
has begun legal proceedings in Canada against Lindows.com,
Inc. to prohibit the company from using the marks "Lindows",
"Lindows.com",
and "LindowsOS”. To view the Canadian court documents visit
www.lindows.com/canadasuit.
"Microsoft
couldn't win in the United States and now they are country-shopping,"
said Michael Robertson, chief executive officer of Lindows.com,
Inc. "This is another tactic geared to slow down desktop Linux
in Canada, where Lindows.com has had
great success. They’re attempting to bury our success with
litigation.”
The legal
action, filed last week in Ottawa, Canada, follows a significant
legal victory in the United States. In the pretrial order, the Court
indicated that no amount of marketing around a generic word can
change the generic status of the word. Microsoft has now opted to
avoid a jury trial previously scheduled to begin on March 1st in Seattle, and will challenge the ruling on appeal. As a result, Lindows.com
is able to use their marks indefinitely. To
view the United States ruling by Honorable Judge Coughenour, visit
www.lindows.com/genericness.
Canadian
customers represent more than 20% of Lindows.com’s early business.
Lindows.com has been selling to
Canadian customers since the first day Lindows.com
products were sold, starting on January 1, 2002. In November of 2003,
Lindows.com launched a 30,000-machine
deployment of Linux-bundled desktops in Canada. To read the details
of the deployment visit www.lindows.com/canadadeployment.
To read
U.S.Court documents visit www.lindows.com/mslawsuit.
To stay apprised of all of Lindows.com activities,
including legal updates and low-cost computer announcements, visit www.lindows.com/mailing.
Press and other persons who are interested in being informed about
legal happenings can sign up at www.lindows.com/trialupdates.
Legal contact:
Daniel Harris
Clifford Chance
Five Palo Alto
Square
3000 El Camino
Real
Palo Alto, CA
94306-2121
650-858-4300
Phone
650-858-4399 Fax
About
Lindows.com Inc.
Lindows.com
gives consumers the world's most affordable choice in software,
focusing on complete ease-of-use and reliability. LindowsOS is an
intuitive operating system that allows the installation of thousands
of applications with just one click. LindowsOS 4.5 now offers SIP
technology for free worldwide calling to other SIP devices, remote
desktop sharing, and integrated websearch and translation tools
(www.lindows.com/lindowsos).
LindowsOS Laptop Edition (www.lindows.com/laptop)
is the first Linux-based operating system tailored specifically for
laptops. Those who are interested in becoming authorized resellers of
LindowsOS should visit http://www.lindows.com/reseller,
or http://www.lindows.com/builder
if interested in selling computers pre-loaded with LindowsOS.
LindowsOS is currently offered in English
(www.lindows.com/lindowsos),
Spanish (www.lindows.com/espanol)
and Japanese (www.lindows.com/edge).
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