Pocket PC: A handheld or a gag gift?
C|Net | at | by Mike
This shows that even lunatics are after Microsoft.
A novelty-gift inventor faced off with Microsoft on Tuesday in an unlikely tussle over the rights to the term "Pocket PC." The low-key battle took place in small-claims court, with entrepreneur Ken Belanger arguing that he lost $5,000 in sales last December because of the software giant's use of the term. Belanger claims he coined the word in 1985 for a gag gift item and therefore holds rights to the same name Microsoft gave to software for handheld computers.
Legal experts say the dispute may be as flimsy as Belanger's gift item, which features a poker chip imprinted with the words "In Silicon We Trust." Instructions advise flipping the chip when faced with difficult business decisions. Ian Ballon, an attorney and partner with the law firm Manatt Phelps & Phillips, said the case holds no water because Belanger pleaded his case in a small-claims court, when copyright lawsuits are restricted to federal court.
