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

To: freeus who wrote (8762)	6/29/1998 7:33:00 PM
From: Hal Rubel	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 74651

"Courts to Decide Ownership of "Internet Explorer" The web browser software which is at the heart of Windows 98 and is also integrated into Mac OS 8.5 is in dispute again. But unlike earlier lawsuits, this one has nothing to do with anti-trust laws or unfair monopolist practices, it is over the name of the browser, Internet Explorer. As noted in earlier reports, the name of the web browser so heavily marketed by Microsoft is actual owned by defunct software firm SyNet, and Microsoft now must either change the name or defend itself in court. You can just sense executives at Netscape Communications smirking at the news. Microsoft claims the title of its web browser software is a generic term, and cannot be owned by anyone entity. In a motion requesting the case be dismissed, Microsoft general counsel William Neukom said other companies have been using the term, including Hayes Microsystems, before SyNet acquired the rights to the name. A decision against the company could cost Microsoft millions of dollars, but settlement talks could be in the offing. The founder of SyNet, Dhiren Rana, now works for Netscape Communications. The trial begins tomorrow. Update: Reader Cliff Tuel at Apple Computer notes that while Microsoft's public stance is that Internet Explorer is a generic term, its web browser hints otherwise. "If Microsoft claims Internet Explorer is a generic term, why does the about box say: 'Microsoftr Internet Explorer(R) for Macintosh'?" Good question. We'll cover any major events resulting from tomorrow's trial." ThesaSOURCE, June, 29, 1998. FYI Hal PS: I expect the courts may be expected to write this one off in Microsoft's favor as justified under the guise of "Technologically Innovative Folding-In", (TIFI). However, many of us non-Microsoft oriented citizens will be asking ourselves just where does Bill's realm end and ours begin? HR