Microsoft-Lindows Court Battle Delayed Until MarchMicrosoft-Lindows Court Battle Delayed Until March

The on again, off again trademark dispute between Microsoft and Linux vendor Lindows.com is off for the moment as a U.S. court Tuesday pushed back the jury trial to March 1, 2004.

Microsoft first sued Lindows.com in 2001, accusing the seller of Linux operating systems and applications of infringing on its 'Windows' trademark, and demanding that the courts bar the company from using the Lindows name.

Although Microsoft has twice been refused requests for an injunction that would prevent Lindows.com from using the Lindows name and shutter its Web site, the battle didn't stop there. Lindows, in turn, demanded that the judge toss out the case.

Instead, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour of the U.S. District Court in Seattle said earlier this year that a jury should decide the issue.

An original jury trial start date of April was pushed back to December 1 at the request of Lindows.com. The newest postponement, said the court, is due to a scheduling conflict.