A French court has decided against Linux distributor MandrakeSoft in an intellectual property dispute with US-based Hearst Holdings and King Features Syndicate, holders of the rights to the comic-strip character Mandrake the Magician. This move could force the software company to surrender its trademark and domain names and to pay 70,000 euros (£47,000) in damages to the US companies.
However, MandrakeSoft will be allowed to continue using its name and Web site addresses for the time being, while it appeals the 13 February decision of the Paris tribunal de grande instance. The company said the appeals process could continue for another three years.
"By appealing the case, we suspend these prohibitions and can continue to use our trademark as well as our domain names," said MandrakeSoft chief executive François Bancilhon. The trademark infringement action by Hearst and its subsidiary King Features has continued for four years, and could last many more, MandrakeSoft said.
MandrakeSoft previously used a company logo featuring a Linux penguin wearing a magician's garb, but the company has removed the image from its packaging and advertising materials.
Hearst is a major media corporation in the US, with holdings in magazines, newspapers and television channels.
A December judgement in French courts also found against MandrakeSoft. A date for initial proceedings in MandrakeSoft's appeal have not yet been set.
ZDNet France's Christophe Guillemin contributed to this report.
Talkback
Anyone who thinks a Linux vendor is going to be confused with a has-been comic has rocks in their head.
Uh, maybe the linux part of the website will confuse them, or wait maybe it will be the penguin...
I do not know the origins or the meaning of MandrakeSoft's name but it must be extremely difficult, now, to find reasonable and snsible original names which have not, in some way, already been used.
If all of these instances are to are to become the subject of money grabbing litigation, we will all be the ultimate loosers.
Who the hell can confuse the cartoon character with the Linux Software. I never heard of Mandrake the Magician before so he's just received some free promotion.
The music industry has found a way to deal with a similar problem as it is now almost impossible to write entirely origin music or lyrics
What a way to go!
Definition
mandrake noun [C]
a plant with purple flowers and a root which is divided into two parts
(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
Mandrakesoft web site can no longer be accessed the same thing goes for the club, However they are still charging the $12 membership fee. They were told repetedly in the past to stop the charges, which they did not do and now they are unreachable, but still charging my Bank Account.
I consider them a fraudalent organization.