Microsoft announced on Friday that it has settled its trade mark
dispute with XBOX Technologies, a small Michigan-based technology
holding company. In exchange for an undisclosed sum, XBOX will
change its name and drop a lawsuit against Microsoft over use of
the name Xbox for the upcoming Microsoft games console.
XBOX Technologies filed applications with the US Patent and
Trademark Office to use the name in March 1999, over six months
before Microsoft made its first Xbox filing. While most terms of
the agreement between the companies remain confidential, Microsoft
will retain or acquire all trade mark rights to Xbox.
A spokesman for XBOX Technologies described the settlement terms
to news agency Reuters as “very, very mutually satisfying.”
Microsoft’s Xbox will be released in the US on 8th November.
