Michael Robertson and his new company, Lindows.com Inc., have won the first round in what could be another significant courtroom battle involving Microsoft. Lindows, which is preparing to release an operating system that can run both Linux and Windows programs, can proceed without changing its name after a federal judge denied Microsoft's request for an injunction. Microsoft had cited its trademark of the Windows name as the legal basis for stripping Lindows of its moniker, but now it appears Bill Gates' legal team will have to dig its feet in if it's to prove its case.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour went beyond determining whether Lindows' lawyers had argued sufficiently that the company hadn't violated trademark, saying that Microsoft had, in fact, raised "serious questions" about the merits of its own case. The wording of the ruling indicates that Microsoft may actually emerge from a trial with reduced trademark muscle because of its decision to originally name its Windows product line after a generic computing term. "Although Lindows certainly made a conscious decision to play with fire by choosing a product and company name that differs by only one letter from the world's leading computer software program, one could just as easily conclude that in 1983 Microsoft made an equally risky decision," wrote the judge.

The news was reason for celebration at Lindows' San Diego headquarters. Robertson, who's no stranger to courtrooms after facing numerous legal challenges from the major music labels while he was CEO of MP3.com Inc., says the ruling demonstrates that Lindows can successfully defend itself against one of the world's most powerful companies. All Robertson says he wants is for Microsoft to practice what it preaches. "Microsoft is always talking about being left alone to innovate," he says. "Well, we want that, too."

Not surprisingly, Microsoft was less than pleased with the ruling and intends to prove that it holds a valid trademark in court. "We will defend the years of hard work that went into building it into a trusted name among consumers," Microsoft a spokesman says. Judge Coughenour is slated to preside over the trial. Lindows, meanwhile, has released a sneak preview of LindowsOS and is planning to reveal general availability later this year.