Judge Offers Trade-Off in Lindows Trademark Litigation

A federal judge in Seattle outlined a trade-off in which Microsoft Corp. could continue to appeal an adverse ruling in a trademark lawsuit if it suspends overseas lawsuits against a small software vendor. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour did not issue a final ruling but proposed a deal under which Microsoft could proceed with an appeal of his ruling that a jury must decide whether "Windows" had been a generic term before it was trademarked.