OT: Microsoft Buys Lindows.com For $20 Million
2004-07-19
In an unexpected move Microsoft has agreed to buy the Lindows.com domain and associated use of the word Lindows for $20 million. This will end 3 years of litigation by Microsoft against Lindows which claimed trademark infringement.
This is an amazing about face for Microsoft since it spent many millions of dollars suing Lindows in jurisdictions around the world. However, this is consistent with Microsoft's recent string of legal settlements.
"This case was centered on the fundamentals of international trademark law and our necessary efforts to protect the Windows® trademark against infringement," said Tom Burt, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft. "This settlement addresses those concerns, and we are pleased that Lindows will now compete in the marketplace with a name distinctly its own."
"We are pleased to resolve this litigation on terms that make business sense for all parties," said Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows, Inc. "Over the next few months Lindows will cease using the term Lindows and transition to Linspire globally as our company name and primary identifier for our operating system product."
Michael Robertson made much of his wealth when he founded and later sold MP3.com in the midst of a jungle of music industry lawsuits. He jumped into the Web game early with several sites including a popular download site founded in 1996 called Filez.com.
The settlement agreement resolves all claims in this litigation, both in the United States and internationally.
