can corporate lawsuits be frivolous?

[DKSuddeth]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/19/offbeat.mike.rowe.soft.ap/index.html

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- It's Microsoft versus Mike Rowe-soft.

Rowe, a 17-year-old high school senior and Web designer from Victoria, has angered the software giant by registering an Internet site with the address www.MikeRoweSoft.com.

"Since my name is Mike Rowe, I thought it would be funny to add 'soft' to the end of it," said Rowe.

Microsoft, however, is not amused.

It has demanded that he give up his domain name. In November, Rowe received a letter from Microsoft's Canadian lawyers informing him he was committing copyright infringement.

"I didn't think they would get all their high-priced lawyers to come after me," Rowe said.

He wrote back asking to be compensated for giving up his name. Microsoft's lawyers offered him $10 in U.S. funds. Then he asked for $10,000.

On Thursday, he received a 25-page letter accusing him of trying to force Microsoft into giving him a large settlement.

"I never even thought of getting anything out of them," he said, adding that he only asked for the $10,000 because he was "sort of mad at them for only offering 10 bucks."

Microsoft company spokesman Jim Desler said Sunday, "Microsoft has been in communication with Mr. Rowe in a good faith effort to reach a mutually agreeable resolution."

Rowe is keeping his sense of humor.

"It's not their name. It's my name. I just think it's kind of funny that they'd go after a 17-year-old," Rowe said.

 

[Moi]

And to prove how frivolous they can be from both sides:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal contractor must pay for an artificial hip for an employee battered in a bar bet gone bad because it dispatched him to a place where he had to make his own fun -- a remote Pacific Ocean atoll used as a U.S. chemical and nuclear arms dump, a court ruled on Thursday.



The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld disability payments to a Hawaii man hurt in a barroom incident involving U.S. soldiers on Johnston Atoll, a U.S. possession some 700 miles west of Hawaii.


The San Francisco-based court backed decisions by an administrative board and judge granting disability benefits to Michael Ilaszczat, who required hip surgery after crashing to the floor of a social club on the atoll after he bet soldiers $100 that one of them could not high-kick over his head without touching him. He won the bet but got kicked to the floor.


The appeals court agreed with the earlier ruling that the two-mile-long atoll is a "zone of special danger" because of its isolation and limited recreational opportunities.


"We agree that, under these circumstances, horseplay of the type that occurred here is a foreseeable incident of one's employment on the atoll," wrote Judge Barry Silverman.


Ilaszczat's former employer, Kalama Services Inc., and CIGNA Property and Casualty Insurance Co. contested the awarding of benefits.


Kalama had fired Ilaszczat, who had worked as a store manager for the company, after Johnston Atoll's U.S. military commander barred him from returning because of the barroom hijinks.

 

[Jackass]

Moi,
Does Mike Rowe have any obligation to give up his page? It IS spelled different.

 

[Moi]

Originally posted by Jackass
Moi,
Does Mike Rowe have any obligation to give up his page? It IS spelled different.

I would doubt that the US has any way to force him. The article says that he's from Vancouver. I don't remember that much from law school. But let's face it, it is the guy's name but he added the "soft" in a clear attempt to steal their thunder. The question is, what has he gained from using the name. If I remember correctly, misappropriation of a name is usually only problematic if the person uses it for financial or other gain.

 

[Aquarian]

I don't think they could force him to give up the site, especially in light of the recent ruling in favor of Lindows. Also note the continued existence of microsoftsucks.com

I also like that microsoft's canadian lawfirm is named smart & biggar
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040119/ap_on_fe_st/microsoft_unhappy_1