Name Awards Blog

 

How much work Microsoft put into coming up with the name Internet Explorer, we do not know, though we suspect it wasn't much. An obvious name for an obvious product position. It's done every day in every creative business. A quick check to see that no one else is using that word, then off to the graphics department to get a logo and on with the coding.

But there was a slight problem when they announced the product. SyNET, a small software company in the Midwest called their lawyers and said, "Hey, we came up with that name. And look, here is our product and we used it in shipping code for a product to surf databases and the worldwide web." Being small, and short of money to pay lawyers, they were at first ignored by Microsoft. But slowly they collected evidence to prove how they had used the name and applied for its trademark.

Eventually, (by which time they were even operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy) Microsoft was proven to have infringed on their name, and quietly settled for a reputed $5.4million. Simple name. Simple process. Simply amazing price!

Today, the Registered trademark for the words Internet Explorer are still owned by SyNET Corporation, though it has been assigned to someone else (guess who). Microsoft, on the other hand, has a trademark on the logo as shown here, when used with the words Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Motto: While big company, many lawyers, bullying tactics are often used in trademark cases, the bully doesn't always win! Stand up and fight for your rights.