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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: freeus who wrote (8722)	6/27/1998 5:38:00 PM
From: j g cordes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

I'm curious to know, if MSFT wins this case will they allow anyone "generic" use of Internet Explorer ?? I don't think so.... JUNE 26, 18:51 EDT Trial Set On Microsoft Name Dispute By DAVID E. KALISH AP Business Writer Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser is one of its best-known, heavily promoted and disputed products. But unknown to most people is the fact that Microsoft doesn't even own the software's name. Adding an odd twist to the controversy swirling over the company's Internet software, a federal jury trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday over civil charges that Microsoft stole the name for its own use. Microsoft denies the charges and says it will vigorously defend itself in U.S. District Court in Chicago. But if it loses the case, it could be forced to change the popular name or pay millions of dollars in fees. Over Microsoft's protests, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decided last month to begin registration of the trademark to SyNet Inc., a small now-defunct software company that says it began using the name in 1994, according to Lynne Beresford, an attorney with the government office. That suggests the examiner reviewing the case decided the name isn't generic or descriptive. But Microsoft, in an unusual defense, claims that it can use the name because it is a generic term and doesn't need to be legally protected, like ''cola'' as opposed to ''Coke.'' ''We're very comfortable we're using this name for our technology and think it's the right way to go,'' said Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan. Microsoft, in a legal brief requesting the case be dismissed, gives several examples of other uses of Internet Explorer, including a book called the Internet Explorer Kit that helps people surf the Web. It cites a type of Internet communications software sold in 1994 called, Hayes Smartcom Internet Explorer. The companies have been in talks about a settlement ahead of the trial and those talks could resume before Tuesday, a source close to the lawsuit said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The case adds another dispute to the Web software. The Justice Department has accused Microsoft in an antitrust lawsuit of abusing its monopoly in personal computer operating software to force its Internet software on consumers and shut out rival companies. SyNet's founder, Dhiren Rana, declined to comment on the case. Rana, who lives in Downers Grove, Ill., had provided Internet access in the Chicago area and distributed a Web browser to his clients called Internet Explorer. Trademarks on names can be worth millions of dollars to their owners. Rana sued Microsoft in October 1995 and is said to have incurred more than $2 million in legal fees. He currently is a consultant to Netscape Communications Corp., which makes a rival browser. Following the publication of the government's registration of the name, beginning on Tuesday, the same day of the trial's start, companies have 30 days to protest the name's trademark, and Microsoft is expected to do so.