Thanks hkey_root for this one. Entrepreneur Ken Belanger is suing Microsoft in small claims court over Microsoft's use of the Pocket PC moniker for their handheld device line. Belanger's claim is that he has been selling a gag gift under the Pocket PC name for 17 years, and he is claiming a common-law trademark.
Belanger's Pocket PC is not a computer device, but a small box with a poker chip inside. Users who have paid $9.95 for Belanger's version of the Pocket PC are told that the chip will help them make important decisions. All they have to do is flip the chip and they will immediately get their answer.
Belanger, who had been selling his product offline for years, filed this lawsuit after he found out that the domain, PocketPC.com was registered with Microsoft. Belagner's suit, filed in small claims court, is seeking $5000. He says that all he really wants is the rights to the PocketPC.com url. The $5000 damages are attributed to lost sales in December of 2001.
Belanger chose to file his suit in small claims court because he did not have the money to fight Microsoft's high powered lawyers. He's willing to take his chances in small claims court. He say's that, "In small claims court they can't bring 50 lawyers. They can't use their standard tactics."
A Microsoft representative who had not yet seen the complaint would only say that the Pocket PC title is simply a generic description rather than a specific title.
News source: PocketPCcity
Belanger's Pocket PC is not a computer device, but a small box with a poker chip inside. Users who have paid $9.95 for Belanger's version of the Pocket PC are told that the chip will help them make important decisions. All they have to do is flip the chip and they will immediately get their answer.
Belanger, who had been selling his product offline for years, filed this lawsuit after he found out that the domain, PocketPC.com was registered with Microsoft. Belagner's suit, filed in small claims court, is seeking $5000. He says that all he really wants is the rights to the PocketPC.com url. The $5000 damages are attributed to lost sales in December of 2001.
Belanger chose to file his suit in small claims court because he did not have the money to fight Microsoft's high powered lawyers. He's willing to take his chances in small claims court. He say's that, "In small claims court they can't bring 50 lawyers. They can't use their standard tactics."
A Microsoft representative who had not yet seen the complaint would only say that the Pocket PC title is simply a generic description rather than a specific title.
News source: PocketPCcity
"The federal administration expects that the interoperability standard ISIS-MTT will quickly establish itself on the market, and that appropriate products for each application, based on ISIS-MTT, will be available," the Cabinet decision said.
Some IT professionals were critical of the government for not being more specific about which technology it intends to use.
The industry association Bitkom (Bundesverband Informationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien e.V.), while welcoming the decision, complained that it makes only suggestions and no concrete directions for implementation.
"After the many rounds of voting not much more remained than a description of the status quo," the group said in a statement. "The government thus unfortunately waters down its clear and praiseworthy aim of quickly and comprehensively outfitting the administration with security technology."
Bitkom called instead for a "citizens' card," with chip and electronic signature, for all Germans.
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