Microsoft Corp. v. Lindows.com, Inc.
Microsoft Corp. v. Lindows.com, Inc. was a trademark dispute that began in 2001 when Microsoft argued that the name Lindows infringed its Windows trademark. After more than two years of court battles, the case ended with Microsoft paying about $20 million to acquire the Lindows trademark, and Lindows changed its company name to Linspire.
The fight wasn’t limited to the United States. Microsoft sued Lindows in several other countries, and Lindows faced challenges including a dispute with its insurer, which initially refused to defend the company. A court later found that the insurer had breached its contract. To help pay legal costs, Lindows launched ChoicePC.com, offering lifetime Lindows memberships for $100 that included LindowsOS, lifetime upgrades, and a T‑shirt.
In court, some early rulings did not favor Microsoft. In 2002, a court noted that Microsoft had used the term “windows” to describe graphical interfaces before the Windows product existed, and that the idea behind windowing had been used by Xerox and Apple earlier. In February 2004, a judge rejected two of Microsoft’s main claims and refused to grant a preliminary injunction, raising questions about whether Windows had become too generic to be protected as a trademark.
In July 2004, Microsoft agreed to settle. As part of the deal, Microsoft paid about $20 million, Lindows transferred the Lindows trademark to Microsoft, and Lindows changed its name to Linspire.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:56 (CET).