Microsoft, Lindows Settle For $20 Million

Microsoft has agreed to pay Linux developer Lindows $20 million to settle their ongoing trademark dispute.

As part of the agreemen, Lindows will abandon the Lindows name and transfer its Web domains to Microsoft. Lindows had recently started calling its products “Linspire” in response to European trademark disputes with Microsoft.

From Microsoft’s press release:

Lindows.com and Microsoft Corp. today jointly announced that a worldwide settlement has been reached in the trademark infringement cases between the two companies.

“This case was centered on the fundamentals of international trademark law and our necessary efforts to protect the Windows® trademark against infringement,” said Tom Burt, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft. “This settlement addresses those concerns, and we are pleased that Lindows will now compete in the marketplace with a name distinctly its own.”

“We are pleased to resolve this litigation on terms that make business sense for all parties,” said Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows Inc. “Over the next few months Lindows will cease using the term Lindows and transition to Linspire globally as our company name and primary identifier for our operating system product.”

The settlement agreement resolves all claims in this litigation, both in the United States and internationally. Terms of the settlement are confidential.