Fwd: Lindows.com: Michael's Minute: The $199 PC! Microsoft Corp. v. Lindows.com Update

[AZ_Pete]

Hi All,

I don't know if this was previously posted on the list.  If it was, I 
apologize.
My brother is on the Lindows mailing list and forwarded this to me.  Please 
read the last paragraph,
I thought some of you guys may be able to help out or know someone who can.

Thanks,
Peter



>Read the last paragraph and spread the word. It's a worthy cause against 
>the evil empire.
>
>>Microsoft Corp. v. Lindows.com Update
>>
>>
>>
>>Some of you have sent me email asking for an update on the battle with 
>>Microsoft and wanting to know how you can help. In case you missed it, 
>>Microsoft sued to shut down <http://www.lindows.com/>Lindows.com earlier 
>>in the year. It was a transparent attempt to stifle the inevitable 
>>competition which Linux represents. Their allegation was (and is) that 
>>they own the trademark for the word "windows," maintaining that no other 
>>company should be allowed to use the word “windows” -- not even the 
>>"indows" portion.
>>
>>
>>
>>Of course, there are hundreds of products and companies that use the word 
>>"windows" – and Microsoft has never filed suit against any of them. 
>>That’s a huge clue that this suit has little to do with trademark 
>>confusion. (If you missed any part of the proceedings to date, visit 
>><http://www.lindows.com/opposition>http://www.lindows.com/opposition to 
>>read the court papers and summaries.)
>>
>>
>>
>>Many people have congratulated us, prematurely, on our victory. While the 
>>judicial system did block their request to shut us down, a trial is 
>>looming for April 2003. At that time, the Judge (or jury) will decide 
>>whether Microsoft has a valid trademark for the word "windows" and 
>>whether the <http://www.lindows.com/>Lindows.com name is confusing. In 
>>the interim, we're moving through the legal process where Microsoft is 
>>demanding, as part of the discovery process, everything from our business 
>>plan to our list of partner companies. As you can imagine, it's 
>>challenging for a 39-person company to compete with a Goliath that has 
>>hundreds of people--just in the legal department alone. This is where we 
>>could use a bit of help from our community of 
>><http://www.lindows.com/signup>Insiders and those on our mailing list.
>>
>>
>>
>>While Microsoft can outspend us with high-priced lawyers and experts, 
>>they cannot buy history. We know, of course, that the word "windows" had 
>>been used in the industry for years before Microsoft adopted it in the 
>>early 1980s for the name of its windowing interface product, Microsoft 
>>Windows 1.0. We could, however, use your help in gathering as much 
>>evidence as possible to show the usage of the words "windows", "window" 
>>and "windowing" before and after 1983, the date Microsoft first filed its 
>>trademark application. If you have magazine or newspaper articles, 
>>academic papers, journal articles, product manuals, advertisements, 
>>textbooks, dictionaries, or anything else that uses the terms, we'd like 
>>to hear from you. We'd also like to hear from anyone who had personal 
>>experience in the industry during those early years and can recall the 
>>history of the early windowing products such as Xerox's Star, VisiCorp's 
>>VisiOn, Apple's Lisa, Digital Research's GEM, Quarterdeck's DesQ, IBM's 
>>TopView, and others. Please email all your findings to 
>><mailto:legal@lindows.com>legal@lindows.com.
>>
>>
>>
>>As always, thanks for all your help.
>>
>>Michael Robertson