MS to tackle Lindows overseas

SEATTLE: A federal judge in Seattle denied a motion by Lindows.com Inc. to stop Microsoft Corp. from pursuing overseas lawsuits against the smaller software company, according to court documents.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, who issued the ruling after a hearing with both parties last week, said that it would be beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts to decide whether injunctions against Lindows, which Microsoft won in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, should stand.

"It is disappointing because this is a wonderful ruling for a rich company out there to go out and sue smaller companies overseas," said Lindows chief executive, Michael Robertson, adding that the ruling would affect the company's business "in a meaningful way" by hurting potential overseas revenue.

Microsoft is suing Lindows for trademark infringement, arguing that the company's name is too similar to Windows, Microsoft's operating system software that runs on more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers. Lindows distributes a variant of the Linux operating system that can be copied and modified freely.

Microsoft, which is appealing a previous ruling that limits the time frame that a jury can consider when deciding whether the term "windows" is generic or not, applauded Friday's ruling.

"We are pleased with the Court's decision and believe this was an attempt by Lindows to avoid the jurisdiction of international courts where they are violating local trademark laws," a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Separately, Microsoft agreed to pay Sun Microsystems Inc. nearly $2 billion to settle an antitrust lawsuit brought by its bitter rival, a move that analysts described as a truce to combat the competitive threat from the increasingly popular Linux operating system.

© Reuters