Microsoft settles with tiny Lindows seller

The only French distributor of the open-source operating system Lindows has opted to sign an informal agreement with Microsoft - after the Redmond giant served it with a writ as part of its 'anti-Lindows' crusade.

The battle between the two companies was always going to be like Mike Tyson getting in the ring with Frankie Dettori. Microsoft has managed, in little more than two months, to put an end to the marketing of Lindows in France: all it had to do was serve a writ on a small software reseller, Hermitage Solutions, based in Lyon, demanding €308,000 in damages and interest.

On 10 February, the two companies signed an informal agreement putting an end to the dispute.

The Lyon-based reseller said in a statement that "Microsoft has decided not to pursue a case against us, in return for the cessation of the marketing of Lindows." Microsoft has been after Lindows.com's flagship product since 2001, believing that the site is illegally mimicking its Windows trademark.

After an initial judgement was made in the US case in March 2002 and while waiting for the next round of court action, Microsoft took legal action in Europe. In Finland, Sweden and the Benelux countries, the courts ruled in Microsoft's favour.

In the French case, the matter won't be aired in the courtroom. Hermitage preferred not to antagonise the software giant, especially given that its sales of Lindows were not particularly significant.

Alain Takahashi, CEO of Hermitage, which employs five people, hasn't been mincing his words on the subject of Microsoft. He said in a statement that he believes Microsoft's actions towards an SME like his own, several years after having started similar legal action against Lindows.com in the American courts, are legal overkill.

"Saying that we are misleading our customers with the risk of confusion between "Windows" and "Lindows" is an insult to the intelligence of our customers," he said.

However, no one at Microsoft was talking about legal overkill. "This is a question of principle," said Thaima Samman, director of legal affairs.

"We've invested a lot of money in the Windows trademark, the reputation of which Lindows.com is exploiting today. From the start, we aimed for an agreement and not a full-frontal assault on Hermitage. It was settled quite quickly and we haven't demanded any reparation. In the end, if they had wanted to sell Lindows under another name, there wouldn't have been a problem," she said.

Christophe Guillemin writes for ZDNet France