Andre Yoskowitz
2 Mar 2007 11:40
Office Live LLC., an online only media company that gives free professional advice as well as run a few websites, including Officelive.net and Autoofficelive.net has started a lawsuit seeking to get an injunction stopping Microsoft from using the "Office Live" name.
Office Live LLC. has had the name "Office Live" federally trademarked since 2002, well before Microsoft launched their Office Live service in 2006.
In late December 2006, after the release of Microsoft’s Office Live services, Office Live LLC. filed the lawsuit against Microsoft, but after talks with Microsoft they decided to refrain serving the lawsuit until both sides could work out a deal. However, when the companies met in February, all talks collapsed and an agreement could not be met.
The CEO of Office Live LLC. had this to say in a statement: "It is shocking that Microsoft would have so little regard for another company's intellectual property rights that it would select a name belonging to another company. Online software may be the next big thing, but Microsoft has no right to use our trademark without permission."
Microsoft counters with their argument that the word "live" is a very common word that is used as a descriptor more than as a phrase. They do not believe Office Live LLC has a trademark.
Besides planning to defend their position in court Microsoft also plans to completely invalidate Office Live LLC's trademark to the phrase "Office Live".
Source:
Dailytech