Has Télévista? "Hasta la Vista"

The IPKat's French ami Frédéric Glaize (curator of Le petit Musée des Marques) informs him that, according to the French press, TV presenter Philippe Gildas is suing Microsoft over the Windows Vista trade mark. Monsieur Gildas, whose company owns a 2003 French trade mark registration for Vista (see illustration, right), plans to launch a TV station for older people next November under that name (or perhaps Télévista - it's not clear). Microsoft's own Windows Vista Community trade mark was filed with German priority as recent as March 2005. Several sources, including Slashdot, report that Gildas' trade mark is not registered for software in classes 9 or 42: a little diligent research reveals, says Frédéric, that it is.

The IPKat doesn't think that the marks are hugely similar or that there's a likelihood of confusion - but he does believe that any publicity that arises from the dispute will give both sides a lot more publicity than they could have bought for the same price. Merpel says, don't forget the key factor: French is (allegedly) xenophobic and (reputedly) a tough jurisdiction for foreign defendants while Microsoft is (allegedly) evil and (reputedly) deserving of a good kicking at national level to match the kicking it's received from the European Commission.

Read about this dispute on Le petit Musée des Marques here