CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Microsoft v. MikeRoweSoft - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"07b6aa37-f65e-4fdc-88e3-363f58ee8329","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft","wgTitle":"Microsoft v. MikeRoweSoft","wgCurRevisionId":1259109670,"wgRevisionId":1259109670,"wgArticleId":2418102,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description matches Wikidata","Use mdy dates from July 2022","Good articles","United States trademark case law","Microsoft litigation","2004 in United States case law","2004 in Canada"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft","wgRelevantArticleId":2418102,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true, "wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":10000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q557237","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false, "wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init", "ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Microsoft v. MikeRoweSoft - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Microsoft_v_MikeRoweSoft rootpage-Microsoft_v_MikeRoweSoft skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Microsoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Microsoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Microsoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Microsoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Background" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Background"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Background</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Background-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Press_coverage_and_settlement" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Press_coverage_and_settlement"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Press coverage and settlement</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Press_coverage_and_settlement-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_developments" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_developments"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Further developments</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_developments-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><i>Microsoft v. MikeRoweSoft</i></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 3 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-3" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">3 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%B4%ED%81%AC%EB%A1%9C%EC%86%8C%ED%94%84%ED%8A%B8_%EB%8C%80_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%B4%ED%81%AC%EB%A1%9C%EC%86%8C%ED%94%84%ED%8A%B8" title="마이크로소프트 대 마이크로소프트 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="마이크로소프트 대 마이크로소프트" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8_MikeRoweSoft" title="Microsoft проти MikeRoweSoft – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Microsoft проти MikeRoweSoft" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%AE%E8%BD%AF%E8%AF%89%E8%BF%88%E5%85%8B%C2%B7%E7%BD%97%E4%BC%8A%E6%A1%88" title="微软诉迈克·罗伊案 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="微软诉迈克·罗伊案" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q557237#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&oldid=1259109670" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&id=1259109670&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMicrosoft_v._MikeRoweSoft"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMicrosoft_v._MikeRoweSoft"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q557237" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> <div id="mw-indicator-good-star" class="mw-indicator"><div class="mw-parser-output"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Good_articles*" title="This is a good article. Click here for more information."><img alt="This is a good article. Click here for more information." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Symbol_support_vote.svg/19px-Symbol_support_vote.svg.png" decoding="async" width="19" height="20" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Symbol_support_vote.svg/29px-Symbol_support_vote.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Symbol_support_vote.svg/39px-Symbol_support_vote.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></a></span></div></div> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Legal dispute</div> <p> <i><b>Microsoft v. MikeRoweSoft</b></i> was a 2004 legal dispute between <a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a> and a Canadian <a href="/wiki/Belmont_Secondary_School" title="Belmont Secondary School">Belmont High School</a> student named Mike Rowe, who was 17, over the <a href="/wiki/Domain_name" title="Domain name">domain name</a> "MikeRoweSoft.com".<sup id="cite_ref-zdnet_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-zdnet-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Microsoft argued that their <a href="/wiki/Trademark" title="Trademark">trademark</a> had been infringed because of the <a href="/wiki/Phonetics" title="Phonetics">phonetic</a> resemblance between "Microsoft" and "MikeRoweSoft".<sup id="cite_ref-CNN3_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-CNN3-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The case received international press attention following Microsoft's perceived heavy-handed approach to a <a href="/wiki/Twelfth_grade#Canada" title="Twelfth grade">12th grade</a> student's part-time <a href="/wiki/Web_design" title="Web design">web design</a> business and the subsequent support that Rowe received from the online community.<sup id="cite_ref-theage_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-theage-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A settlement was eventually reached, with Rowe granting ownership of the domain to Microsoft in exchange for an <a href="/wiki/Xbox_(console)" title="Xbox (console)">Xbox</a> and additional Microsoft products and services.<sup id="cite_ref-BBC_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-BBC-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Background">Background</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Background"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1224211176">.mw-parser-output .quotebox{background-color:#F9F9F9;border:1px solid #aaa;box-sizing:border-box;padding:10px;font-size:88%;max-width:100%}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft{margin:.5em 1.4em .8em 0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright{margin:.5em 0 .8em 1.4em}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.centered{overflow:hidden;position:relative;margin:.5em auto .8em auto}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft span,.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright span{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox>blockquote{margin:0;padding:0;border-left:0;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-title{text-align:center;font-size:110%;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote>:first-child{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote:last-child>:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:before{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" “ ";vertical-align:-45%;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:after{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" ” ";line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .left-aligned{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .right-aligned{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .center-aligned{text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quote-title,.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quotebox-quote{display:block}.mw-parser-output .quotebox cite{display:block;font-style:normal}@media screen and (max-width:640px){.mw-parser-output .quotebox{width:100%!important;margin:0 0 .8em!important;float:none!important}}</style><div class="quotebox pullquote floatright" style="width:24em; ;"> <blockquote class="quotebox-quote left-aligned" style=""> <p>Since my name is Mike Rowe, I thought it would be funny to add "soft" to the end of it. </p> </blockquote> <p style="padding-bottom: 0;"><cite class="left-aligned" style="">– Mike Rowe<sup id="cite_ref-komo_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-komo-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></cite></p> </div> <p>The domain name MikeRoweSoft.com was initially registered by Canadian student Mike Rowe on August 5, 2003.<sup id="cite_ref-zdnet_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-zdnet-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Rowe set up the site as a part-time web design business, choosing the domain because of the <a href="/wiki/Phonetics" title="Phonetics">phonetic</a> pun by adding the word "soft" to the end of his name.<sup id="cite_ref-cbs_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cbs-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-usatoday3_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-usatoday3-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Microsoft saw the name as <a href="/wiki/Trademark_infringement" title="Trademark infringement">trademark infringement</a> because of its phonetic resemblance to their trademarked corporate name and demanded that he give up the domain.<sup id="cite_ref-CNN3_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-CNN3-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-CNN_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-CNN-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After receiving a letter from Microsoft's Canadian legal representatives <a href="/wiki/Smart_%26_Biggar" title="Smart & Biggar">Smart & Biggar</a> on January 14, 2004, Rowe replied asking to be compensated for giving up the domain.<sup id="cite_ref-komo_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-komo-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-cnet2_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cnet2-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Microsoft offered to pay Rowe's <a href="/wiki/Out-of-pocket_expenses" class="mw-redirect" title="Out-of-pocket expenses">out-of-pocket expenses</a> of $10, the original cost of registering the domain name.<sup id="cite_ref-cnet_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cnet-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Rowe countered asking instead for $10,000, later claiming that he did this because he was "mad at" Microsoft for their initial $10 offer.<sup id="cite_ref-komo_5-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-komo-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Microsoft declined the offer and sent a <a href="/wiki/Cease_and_desist" title="Cease and desist">cease and desist</a> letter spanning 25 pages. Microsoft accused Rowe of setting up the site in order to try to force them into a large financial settlement, a practice known as <a href="/wiki/Cybersquatting" title="Cybersquatting">cybersquatting</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-zdnet_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-zdnet-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Press_coverage_and_settlement">Press coverage and settlement</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Press coverage and settlement"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Rowe went to the press, creating publicity for the case and garnering support for his cause, including donations of over $6,000 and an offer of free advice from a lawyer.<sup id="cite_ref-komo_5-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-komo-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-globe_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-globe-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> At one point Rowe was forced to take down his site after it was overwhelmed by around 250,000 <a href="/wiki/Page_views" class="mw-redirect" title="Page views">page views</a> over a period of twelve hours, only managing to get the site back up after changing to a service provider with a higher capacity.<sup id="cite_ref-usatoday_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-usatoday-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The case, portrayed as a <a href="/wiki/Goliath" title="Goliath">David versus Goliath</a> struggle by the media, characterized Microsoft in a negative light. The resulting bad publicity was later described as a "public-relations mess".<sup id="cite_ref-globe_12-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-globe-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-seattlepi_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-seattlepi-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The public showing of support that Rowe received was credited with "softening Microsoft's stance", leading to an eventual settlement.<sup id="cite_ref-CNN3_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-CNN3-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In late January 2004, it was revealed that the two parties had come to an <a href="/wiki/Out-of-court_settlement" class="mw-redirect" title="Out-of-court settlement">out-of-court settlement</a>, with Microsoft taking control of the domain.<sup id="cite_ref-CNN2_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-CNN2-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In return Microsoft agreed to pay all of the expenses that Rowe had incurred, including setting up a new site at and redirecting traffic to MikeRoweforums.com, a website now defunct.<sup id="cite_ref-wired_16-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wired-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Additionally, Microsoft provided Rowe with a subscription to the <a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Developer_Network" title="Microsoft Developer Network">Microsoft Developer Network</a>, an all-expenses-paid trip for him and his family to the Microsoft Research Tech Fest at their headquarters in <a href="/wiki/Redmond,_Washington" title="Redmond, Washington">Redmond, Washington</a>, training for <a href="/wiki/Microsoft_certification" class="mw-redirect" title="Microsoft certification">Microsoft certification</a> and an <a href="/wiki/Xbox_(console)" title="Xbox (console)">Xbox</a> with a selection of games.<sup id="cite_ref-cnet_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cnet-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Following an online poll, Rowe donated most of his legal defense fund to <a href="/wiki/Canuck_Place" class="mw-redirect" title="Canuck Place">Canuck Place</a>, a hospice for terminally ill children, and used the remaining money for his future university education.<sup id="cite_ref-wired2_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wired2-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-usatoday2_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-usatoday2-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_developments">Further developments</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Further developments"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1224211176"><div class="quotebox pullquote floatright" style="width:24em; ;"> <blockquote class="quotebox-quote left-aligned" style=""> <p>We take our trademark seriously, but in this case maybe a little too seriously. </p> </blockquote> <p style="padding-bottom: 0;"><cite class="left-aligned" style="">– Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler<sup id="cite_ref-usatoday_13-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-usatoday-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></cite></p> </div> <p>After settling the dispute with Microsoft, Rowe attempted to <a href="/wiki/Auction" title="Auction">auction</a> off the documentation he had received on the on-line auction site <a href="/wiki/EBay" title="EBay">eBay</a>, describing it as "a piece of Internet history".<sup id="cite_ref-cnet2_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cnet2-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The materials included one copy of the original 25-page cease and desist letter, as well as an inch-thick <a href="/wiki/WIPO" class="mw-redirect" title="WIPO">WIPO</a> book containing copies of trademarks, web pages and e-mails between him and Microsoft.<sup id="cite_ref-cnet2_10-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cnet2-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The auction received more than half a million page views and bidding rose to more than $200,000.<sup id="cite_ref-cnet2_10-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cnet2-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The high bids turned out to be fraudulent, and the auction was restricted to pre-approved bidders.<sup id="cite_ref-cnet2_10-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cnet2-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After restarting from the reserve price of $500, the documents eventually sold for $1,037.<sup id="cite_ref-taipei_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-taipei-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Microsoft later admitted that they may have been too aggressive in their defense of the "Microsoft" trademark.<sup id="cite_ref-wired_16-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wired-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-zdnet2_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-zdnet2-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Following the case, it was suggested by Struan Robertson – editor of <a href="/wiki/Out-Law.com" title="Out-Law.com">Out-Law.com</a> – that Microsoft had little choice but to pursue the issue once it had come to light, or they would have risked weakening their trademark.<sup id="cite_ref-zdnet2_20-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-zdnet2-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This view was also espoused by <a href="/wiki/ZDNet" class="mw-redirect" title="ZDNet">ZDNet</a>, which noted that had Microsoft knowingly ignored Rowe's site, the company would have risked losing the right to fight future trademark infringements.<sup id="cite_ref-zdnet3_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-zdnet3-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Robertson opined that – had legal proceedings ensued – Rowe would have made a strong argument for keeping his domain, as he was using his real name and was not claiming to be affiliated with Microsoft.<sup id="cite_ref-zdnet2_20-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-zdnet2-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Corp._v._Shah" title="Microsoft Corp. v. Shah">Microsoft Corp. v. Shah</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Nissan_Motors_v._Nissan_Computer" title="Nissan Motors v. Nissan Computer">Nissan Motors v. Nissan Computer</a></i></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-zdnet-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-zdnet_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-zdnet_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-zdnet_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFKotadia2004" class="citation web cs1">Kotadia, Munir (January 19, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/software-giant-threatens-mikerowesoft/">"Software giant threatens mikerowesoft"</a>. <a href="/wiki/ZDNet" class="mw-redirect" title="ZDNet">ZDNet</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Software+giant+threatens+mikerowesoft&rft.pub=ZDNet&rft.date=2004-01-19&rft.aulast=Kotadia&rft.aufirst=Munir&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zdnet.com%2Farticle%2Fsoftware-giant-threatens-mikerowesoft%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-CNN3-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-CNN3_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CNN3_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-CNN3_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSieberg2004" class="citation news cs1">Sieberg, Daniel (January 20, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/20/rowe.fight/">"Teen fights to keep MikeRoweSoft.com"</a>. <a href="/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Teen+fights+to+keep+MikeRoweSoft.com&rft.date=2004-01-20&rft.aulast=Sieberg&rft.aufirst=Daniel&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2004%2FTECH%2Finternet%2F01%2F20%2Frowe.fight%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-theage-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-theage_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBarker2004" class="citation news cs1">Barker, Gary (January 21, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/20/1074360769726.html">"Teenager takes on a corporate monster"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Age" title="The Age">The Age</a></i>. Melbourne<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 2,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+Age&rft.atitle=Teenager+takes+on+a+corporate+monster&rft.date=2004-01-21&rft.aulast=Barker&rft.aufirst=Gary&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theage.com.au%2Farticles%2F2004%2F01%2F20%2F1074360769726.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-BBC-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-BBC_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3429485.stm">"Boy swaps MikeRoweSoft for Xbox"</a>. <a href="/wiki/BBC_News" title="BBC News">BBC News</a>. January 26, 2004<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Boy+swaps+MikeRoweSoft+for+Xbox&rft.date=2004-01-26&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F2%2Fhi%2Ftechnology%2F3429485.stm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-komo-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-komo_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-komo_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-komo_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-komo_5-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKOMO_Staff_&_News_Services2004" class="citation web cs1"><a href="/wiki/KOMO-TV" title="KOMO-TV">KOMO</a> Staff & News Services (January 18, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://komonews.com/amp/archive/microsoft-vs-mikerowesoft">"Microsoft vs. Mikerowesoft"</a>. <a href="/wiki/KOMO-TV" title="KOMO-TV">KOMO News</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Microsoft+vs.+Mikerowesoft&rft.pub=KOMO+News&rft.date=2004-01-18&rft.au=KOMO+Staff+%26+News+Services&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fkomonews.com%2Famp%2Farchive%2Fmicrosoft-vs-mikerowesoft&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://who.is/whois/mikerowesoft.com">"mikerowesoft.com whois lookup - who.is"</a>. <i>who.is</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">April 29,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=who.is&rft.atitle=mikerowesoft.com+whois+lookup+-+who.is&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwho.is%2Fwhois%2Fmikerowesoft.com&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-cbs-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-cbs_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/microsoft-not-soft-on-mike-rowe/">"Microsoft Not Soft On Mike Rowe"</a>. <a href="/wiki/CBS_News" title="CBS News">CBS News</a>. January 20, 2004<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Microsoft+Not+Soft+On+Mike+Rowe&rft.pub=CBS+News&rft.date=2004-01-20&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fmicrosoft-not-soft-on-mike-rowe%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-usatoday3-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-usatoday3_8-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070102152416/https://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-01-19-mike-rowe_x.htm">"Microsoft takes on teen over domain name"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/USA_Today" title="USA Today">USA Today</a></i>. January 19, 2004. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-01-19-mike-rowe_x.htm">the original</a> on January 2, 2007<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 8,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=USA+Today&rft.atitle=Microsoft+takes+on+teen+over+domain+name&rft.date=2004-01-19&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Ftech%2Fwebguide%2Finternetlife%2F2004-01-19-mike-rowe_x.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-CNN-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-CNN_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080527162507/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/19/offbeat.mike.rowe.soft.ap/index.html">"Microsoft takes on teen's site MikeRoweSoft.com"</a>. <a href="/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a>. January 20, 2004. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/19/offbeat.mike.rowe.soft.ap/index.html">the original</a> on May 27, 2008<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Microsoft+takes+on+teen%27s+site+MikeRoweSoft.com&rft.date=2004-01-20&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2004%2FTECH%2Finternet%2F01%2F19%2Foffbeat.mike.rowe.soft.ap%2Findex.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-cnet2-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-cnet2_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cnet2_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cnet2_10-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cnet2_10-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cnet2_10-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFFesta2004" class="citation web cs1">Festa, Paul (February 2, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/mikerowesoft-sell-off-bids-going-going-down/">"MikeRoweSoft sell-off bids going, going...down"</a>. <a href="/wiki/CNET" title="CNET">CNET</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=MikeRoweSoft+sell-off+bids+going%2C+going...down&rft.pub=CNET&rft.date=2004-02-02&rft.aulast=Festa&rft.aufirst=Paul&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Ftech%2Ftech-industry%2Fmikerowesoft-sell-off-bids-going-going-down%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-cnet-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-cnet_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cnet_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKotadia2004" class="citation web cs1">Kotadia, Munir (January 26, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/mikerowesoft-settles-for-an-xbox/">"MikeRoweSoft settles for an Xbox"</a>. <a href="/wiki/CNET" title="CNET">CNET</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=MikeRoweSoft+settles+for+an+Xbox&rft.pub=CNET&rft.date=2004-01-26&rft.aulast=Kotadia&rft.aufirst=Munir&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Ftech%2Ftech-industry%2Fmikerowesoft-settles-for-an-xbox%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-globe-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-globe_12-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-globe_12-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFCarmichael2004" class="citation web cs1">Carmichael, Amy (February 5, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/microsoft-vs-mikerowesoft-ends-amicably/article1127362/">"Microsoft vs. mikeRowesoft ends amicably"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Globe_and_Mail" title="The Globe and Mail">The Globe and Mail</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=The+Globe+and+Mail&rft.atitle=Microsoft+vs.+mikeRowesoft+ends+amicably&rft.date=2004-02-05&rft.aulast=Carmichael&rft.aufirst=Amy&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglobeandmail.com%2Ftechnology%2Fmicrosoft-vs-mikerowesoft-ends-amicably%2Farticle1127362%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-usatoday-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-usatoday_13-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-usatoday_13-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100701091718/https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-01-20-mikerowedeal_x.htm">"Microsoft lightens up on teen's mikerowesoft site"</a>. <a href="/wiki/USA_Today" title="USA Today">USA Today</a>. January 20, 2004. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-01-20-mikerowedeal_x.htm">the original</a> on July 1, 2010<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Microsoft+lightens+up+on+teen%27s+mikerowesoft+site&rft.date=2004-01-20&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Ftech%2Fnews%2F2004-01-20-mikerowedeal_x.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-seattlepi-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-seattlepi_14-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBishop2004" class="citation web cs1">Bishop, Todd (January 21, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.seattlepi.com/business/157403_mikerowe21.html">"Mikerowesoft vs. Microsoft: The saga continues"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Seattle_Post-Intelligencer" title="Seattle Post-Intelligencer">Seattle Post-Intelligencer</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Seattle+Post-Intelligencer&rft.atitle=Mikerowesoft+vs.+Microsoft%3A+The+saga+continues&rft.date=2004-01-21&rft.aulast=Bishop&rft.aufirst=Todd&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.seattlepi.com%2Fbusiness%2F157403_mikerowe21.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-CNN2-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-CNN2_15-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080224211748/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/26/mikerowesoft.settle.ap/">"Microsoft to take over MikeRoweSoft.com"</a>. <a href="/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a>. January 26, 2004. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/26/mikerowesoft.settle.ap/">the original</a> on February 24, 2008<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Microsoft+to+take+over+MikeRoweSoft.com&rft.date=2004-01-26&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2004%2FTECH%2Finternet%2F01%2F26%2Fmikerowesoft.settle.ap%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-wired-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-wired_16-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-wired_16-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation magazine cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2004/01/62044">"MikeRoweSoft Names His Price"</a>. <i>Wired</i>. <a href="/wiki/Wired_News" class="mw-redirect" title="Wired News">Wired News</a>. January 26, 2004<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Wired&rft.atitle=MikeRoweSoft+Names+His+Price&rft.date=2004-01-26&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Ftechbiz%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2F2004%2F01%2F62044&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-wired2-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-wired2_17-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSjöberg2004" class="citation magazine cs1">Sjöberg, Lore (March 24, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2004/03/62785">"Anti-MS Fund Goes to Charity"</a>. <i>Wired</i>. <a href="/wiki/Wired_News" class="mw-redirect" title="Wired News">Wired News</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Wired&rft.atitle=Anti-MS+Fund+Goes+to+Charity&rft.date=2004-03-24&rft.aulast=Sj%C3%B6berg&rft.aufirst=Lore&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Ftechbiz%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2F2004%2F03%2F62785&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-usatoday2-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-usatoday2_18-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070810183700/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-03-25-mike-rowe-sweet_x.htm">"Teen who battled Microsoft donates defense fund to charity"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/USA_Today" title="USA Today">USA Today</a></i>. March 25, 2004. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-03-25-mike-rowe-sweet_x.htm">the original</a> on August 10, 2007<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 3,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=USA+Today&rft.atitle=Teen+who+battled+Microsoft+donates+defense+fund+to+charity&rft.date=2004-03-25&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Ftech%2Fwebguide%2Finternetlife%2F2004-03-25-mike-rowe-sweet_x.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-taipei-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-taipei_19-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090412075042/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2004/02/09/2003098113/wiki">"Sued teen sells letter from Microsoft"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Taipei_Times" title="Taipei Times">Taipei Times</a></i>. February 9, 2004. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2004/02/09/2003098113/wiki">the original</a> on April 12, 2009<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">October 1,</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Taipei+Times&rft.atitle=Sued+teen+sells+letter+from+Microsoft&rft.date=2004-02-09&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taipeitimes.com%2FNews%2Fworldbiz%2Farchives%2F2004%2F02%2F09%2F2003098113%2Fwiki&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-zdnet2-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-zdnet2_20-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-zdnet2_20-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-zdnet2_20-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKotadia2004" class="citation web cs1">Kotadia, Munir (January 20, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-we-took-mikerowesoft-too-seriously/">"Microsoft: We took MikeRoweSoft too seriously"</a>. <a href="/wiki/ZDNet" class="mw-redirect" title="ZDNet">ZDNet</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Microsoft%3A+We+took+MikeRoweSoft+too+seriously&rft.pub=ZDNet&rft.date=2004-01-20&rft.aulast=Kotadia&rft.aufirst=Munir&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zdnet.com%2Farticle%2Fmicrosoft-we-took-mikerowesoft-too-seriously%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-zdnet3-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-zdnet3_21-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKotadia2004" class="citation web cs1">Kotadia, Munir (January 20, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/mikerowesoft-garners-funds-to-fight-back/">"MikeRoweSoft garners funds to fight back"</a>. <a href="/wiki/ZDNet" class="mw-redirect" title="ZDNet">ZDNet</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">March 7,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=MikeRoweSoft+garners+funds+to+fight+back&rft.pub=ZDNet&rft.date=2004-01-20&rft.aulast=Kotadia&rft.aufirst=Munir&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zdnet.com%2Farticle%2Fmikerowesoft-garners-funds-to-fight-back%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMicrosoft+v.+MikeRoweSoft" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.microsoft.com/">Microsoft.com</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20031017114024/http://www.mikerowesoft.com/">MikeRoweSoft.com</a> – it now redirects to <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.microsoft.com/">Microsoft.com</a>.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ajsih/i_am_the_guy_who_owned_mikerowesoftcom_ama/">Reddit.com</a> - AMA with Mike Rowe on <a href="/wiki/R/IAmA" title="R/IAmA">r/IAmA</a></li></ul> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Microsoft_Corporation" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Microsoft" title="Template:Microsoft"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Microsoft" title="Template talk:Microsoft"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Microsoft" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Microsoft"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Microsoft_Corporation" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft Corporation</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Microsoft" title="History of Microsoft">History</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_Microsoft" title="Outline of Microsoft">Outline</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">People</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Founders</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bill_Gates" title="Bill Gates">Bill Gates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paul_Allen" title="Paul Allen">Paul Allen</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Board of directors</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Satya_Nadella" title="Satya Nadella">Satya Nadella</a> (Chairman and CEO)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reid_Hoffman" title="Reid Hoffman">Reid Hoffman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sandi_Peterson" title="Sandi Peterson">Sandi Peterson</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Penny_Pritzker" title="Penny Pritzker">Penny Pritzker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Carlos_A._Rodriguez" title="Carlos A. Rodriguez">Carlos A. Rodriguez</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Scharf" title="Charles Scharf">Charles Scharf</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_W._Stanton" title="John W. Stanton">John W. Stanton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_W._Thompson" title="John W. Thompson">John W. Thompson</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Emma_Walmsley" title="Emma Walmsley">Emma Walmsley</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Padmasree_Warrior" title="Padmasree Warrior">Padmasree Warrior</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Senior leadership team</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Satya_Nadella" title="Satya Nadella">Satya Nadella</a> (CEO)</li> <li>Takeshi Numoto (CMO)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scott_Guthrie" title="Scott Guthrie">Scott Guthrie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Carolina_Dybeck_Happe" title="Carolina Dybeck Happe">Carolina Dybeck Happe</a> (COO)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Amy_Hood" title="Amy Hood">Amy Hood</a> (CFO)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kevin_Scott_(computer_scientist)" title="Kevin Scott (computer scientist)">Kevin Scott</a> (CTO)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brad_Smith_(American_lawyer)" title="Brad Smith (American lawyer)">Brad Smith</a> (CLO)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harry_Shum" title="Harry Shum">Harry Shum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phil_Spencer_(business_executive)" title="Phil Spencer (business executive)">Phil Spencer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kathleen_Hogan" title="Kathleen Hogan">Kathleen Hogan</a> (CPO)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Corporate VPs</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Joe_Belfiore" title="Joe Belfiore">Joe Belfiore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Rashid" title="Richard Rashid">Richard Rashid</a> (SVP)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Cernuda" title="César Cernuda">César Cernuda</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Employee groups</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Global_LGBTQIA%2B_Employee_%26_Allies_at_Microsoft" title="Global LGBTQIA+ Employee & Allies at Microsoft">Global LGBTQIA+ Employee & Allies at Microsoft</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_and_unions" title="Microsoft and unions">Microsoft and unions</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Products</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_hardware" title="Microsoft hardware">Hardware</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Azure_Kinect" title="Azure Kinect">Azure Kinect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_HoloLens" title="Microsoft HoloLens">HoloLens</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/LifeCam" title="LifeCam">LifeCam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Surface" title="Microsoft Surface">Surface</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Duo" title="Surface Duo">Duo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Go" title="Surface Go">Go</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Hub" title="Surface Hub">Hub</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Laptop" title="Surface Laptop">Laptop</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Laptop_Go" title="Surface Laptop Go">Laptop Go</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Neo" title="Surface Neo">Neo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Pro" title="Surface Pro">Pro</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_Studio" title="Surface Studio">Studio</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xbox" title="Xbox">Xbox</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_software" title="List of Microsoft software">Software</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Clipchamp" title="Clipchamp">Clipchamp</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Dynamics_365" title="Microsoft Dynamics 365">Dynamics 365</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Havok_(software)" title="Havok (software)">Havok</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_365" title="Microsoft 365">Microsoft 365</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Office" title="Microsoft Office">Office</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Teams" title="Microsoft Teams">Teams</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_and_open_source" title="Microsoft and open source">Open source software</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Power_Platform" title="Microsoft Power Platform">Power Platform</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Servers" title="Microsoft Servers">Servers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Start" title="Microsoft Start">Start</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tay_(chatbot)" title="Tay (chatbot)">Tay</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Visual_Studio" title="Visual Studio">Visual Studio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Visual_Studio_Code" title="Visual Studio Code">Visual Studio Code</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Windows</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xbox_system_software" title="Xbox system software">Xbox OS</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Programming<br />languages</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/BASIC" title="BASIC">BASIC</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Visual_Basic_(.NET)" title="Visual Basic (.NET)">VB.NET</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Visual_Basic_for_Applications" title="Visual Basic for Applications">VBA</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/VBScript" title="VBScript">VBScript</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Visual_Basic_(classic)" title="Visual Basic (classic)">Visual Basic</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/C_Sharp_(programming_language)" title="C Sharp (programming language)">C#</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/C/AL" title="C/AL">C/AL a.k.a. Navision Attain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/F_Sharp_(programming_language)" title="F Sharp (programming language)">F#</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Visual_Programming_Language" title="Microsoft Visual Programming Language">MVPL</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Power_Fx" title="Microsoft Power Fx">Power Fx</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/PowerShell" title="PowerShell">PowerShell</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Q_Sharp" title="Q Sharp">Q#</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transact-SQL" title="Transact-SQL">Transact-SQL</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/TypeScript" title="TypeScript">TypeScript</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Visual_J%2B%2B" title="Visual J++">Visual J++</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Visual_J_Sharp" title="Visual J Sharp">Visual J#</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Web properties</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Azure" title="Microsoft Azure">Azure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Bing" title="Microsoft Bing">Bing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Copilot" title="Microsoft Copilot">Copilot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/GitHub" title="GitHub">GitHub</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Learn" title="Microsoft Learn">Learn</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Channel_9_(Microsoft)" title="Channel 9 (Microsoft)">Channel 9</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Developer_Network" title="Microsoft Developer Network">Developer Network</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_TechNet" title="Microsoft TechNet">TechNet</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/LinkedIn" title="LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/LinkedIn_Learning" title="LinkedIn Learning">LinkedIn Learning</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MSN" title="MSN">MSN</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outlook.com" title="Outlook.com">Outlook.com</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Store" title="Microsoft Store">Store</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Translator" title="Microsoft Translator">Translator</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Company</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Conferences</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Build" title="Microsoft Build">Build</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Ignite" title="Microsoft Ignite">Ignite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Inspire" title="Microsoft Inspire">Inspire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MIX_(Microsoft)" title="MIX (Microsoft)">MIX</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Professional_Developers_Conference" title="Professional Developers Conference">PDC</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Hardware_Engineering_Conference" title="Windows Hardware Engineering Conference">WinHEC</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Divisions</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/.NET_Foundation" title=".NET Foundation">.NET Foundation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Digital_Crimes_Unit" title="Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit">Digital Crimes Unit</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_engineering_groups" title="Microsoft engineering groups">Engineering groups</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Mobile" title="Microsoft Mobile">Mobile</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Skype_Technologies" title="Skype Technologies">Skype unit</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Gaming" title="Microsoft Gaming">Gaming</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Activision_Blizzard" title="Activision Blizzard">Activision Blizzard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xbox_Game_Studios" title="Xbox Game Studios">Xbox Game Studios</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ZeniMax_Media" title="ZeniMax Media">ZeniMax Media</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Garage" title="Microsoft Garage">Garage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outercurve_Foundation" title="Outercurve Foundation">Outercurve Foundation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Press" title="Microsoft Press">Press</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Research" title="Microsoft Research">Research</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Store_(retail)" title="Microsoft Store (retail)">Retail stores</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Estates</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_campus" title="Microsoft campus">Microsoft campus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Egypt" class="mw-redirect" title="Microsoft Egypt">Microsoft Egypt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_India" title="Microsoft India">Microsoft India</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Japan" title="Microsoft Japan">Microsoft Japan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Campaigns</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>"<a href="/wiki/Where_do_you_want_to_go_today%3F" title="Where do you want to go today?">Where do you want to go today?</a>" (1994)</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/Champagne_(advertisement)" title="Champagne (advertisement)">Champagne</a>" (2002)</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/Mojave_Experiment" title="Mojave Experiment">Mojave Experiment</a>" (2006)</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/I%27m_a_PC" title="I'm a PC">I'm a PC</a>" (2008)</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/Scroogled" title="Scroogled">Scroogled</a>" (2012)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft" title="Criticism of Microsoft">Criticism</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bundling_of_Microsoft_Windows" title="Bundling of Microsoft Windows">Bundling of Microsoft Windows</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Office_Assistant" title="Office Assistant">Clippy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ILoo#Reaction" title="ILoo">iLoo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Internet_Explorer#Security_vulnerabilities" title="Internet Explorer">Internet Explorer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Bob" title="Microsoft Bob">Microsoft Bob</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NSAKEY" title="NSAKEY">_NSAKEY</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft_Windows" title="Criticism of Microsoft Windows">Windows</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Criticism_of_Windows_XP" title="Criticism of Windows XP">XP</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Criticism_of_Windows_Vista" title="Criticism of Windows Vista">Vista</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Criticism_of_Windows_10" title="Criticism of Windows 10">10</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_litigation" title="Microsoft litigation">Litigation</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Alcatel-Lucent_v._Microsoft_Corp." title="Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft Corp.">Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corp." title="Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.">Apple v. Microsoft</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Corp._v._Commission" title="Microsoft Corp. v. Commission">Microsoft v. Commission</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/FTC_v._Microsoft" title="FTC v. Microsoft">FTC v. Microsoft</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Corp._v._Lindows.com,_Inc." title="Microsoft Corp. v. Lindows.com, Inc.">Microsoft v. Lindows</a></i></li> <li><i><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Microsoft v. MikeRoweSoft</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Corp._v._Shah" title="Microsoft Corp. v. Shah">Microsoft v. Shah</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp." title="United States v. Microsoft Corp.">United States v. Microsoft</a></i> (2001 antitrust case)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Corp._v._United_States" title="Microsoft Corp. v. United States">Microsoft v. United States</a></i> (2018 data privacy case)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft" title="List of mergers and acquisitions by Microsoft">Acquisitions</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wunderlist" title="Wunderlist">6Wunderkinder</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Access_Software" title="Access Software">Access Software</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Acompli" title="Acompli">Acompli</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Activision_Blizzard" title="Activision Blizzard">Activision Blizzard</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Acquisition_of_Activision_Blizzard_by_Microsoft" title="Acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft">acquisition</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Altamira_Software" title="Altamira Software">Altamira Software</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/AltspaceVR" title="AltspaceVR">AltspaceVR</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/AQuantive" title="AQuantive">aQuantive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Amalga" title="Microsoft Amalga">Azyxxi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mixer_(service)" title="Mixer (service)">Beam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Blue_Ribbon_SoundWorks" title="The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks">The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bungie" title="Bungie">Bungie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clipchamp" title="Clipchamp">Clipchamp</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Colloquis" title="Colloquis">Colloquis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Compulsion_Games" title="Compulsion Games">Compulsion Games</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Connectix" title="Connectix">Connectix</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consumers_Software" title="Consumers Software">Consumers Software</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Danger,_Inc." title="Danger, Inc.">Danger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Double_Fine" title="Double Fine">Double Fine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MSN_Travel" title="MSN Travel">Farecast</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/FASA_Studio" title="FASA Studio">FASA Studio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Development_Center_Norway" title="Microsoft Development Center Norway">Fast Search & Transfer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Firefly_(website)" title="Firefly (website)">Firefly</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Forethought,_Inc." title="Forethought, Inc.">Forethought</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Defender_Antivirus" title="Microsoft Defender Antivirus">GIANT Company Software</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/GitHub" title="GitHub">GitHub</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Great_Plains_Software" title="Great Plains Software">Great Plains Software</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/GreenButton" title="GreenButton">GreenButton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Groove_Networks" title="Groove Networks">Groove Networks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Havok_(company)" title="Havok (company)">Havok Group</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/High_Heat_Major_League_Baseball" title="High Heat Major League Baseball">High Heat Major League Baseball</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outlook.com" title="Outlook.com">Hotmail</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/InXile_Entertainment" title="InXile Entertainment">inXile Entertainment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jellyfish.com" title="Jellyfish.com">Jellyfish.com</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/LinkedIn" title="LinkedIn">LinkedIn</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/LinkExchange" title="LinkExchange">LinkExchange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lionhead_Studios" title="Lionhead Studios">Lionhead Studios</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maluuba" title="Maluuba">Maluuba</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Massive_Incorporated" title="Massive Incorporated">Massive Incorporated</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metaswitch" title="Metaswitch">Metaswitch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MileIQ" title="MileIQ">Mobile Data Labs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mojang_Studios" title="Mojang Studios">Mojang Studios</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ninja_Theory" title="Ninja Theory">Ninja Theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Mobile" title="Microsoft Mobile">Nokia Devices and Services</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Npm" title="Npm">npm</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nuance_Communications" title="Nuance Communications">Nuance Communications</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Obsidian_Entertainment" title="Obsidian Entertainment">Obsidian Entertainment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Windows_Live_Toolbar#Onfolio" title="Windows Live Toolbar">Onfolio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pando_Networks" title="Pando Networks">Pando Networks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Perceptive_Pixel" title="Perceptive Pixel">Perceptive Pixel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/PlaceWare" title="PlaceWare">PlaceWare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Playground_Games" title="Playground Games">Playground Games</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Powerset_(company)" title="Powerset (company)">Powerset</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Press_Play_(company)" title="Press Play (company)">Press Play</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ProClarity" title="ProClarity">ProClarity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rare_(company)" title="Rare (company)">Rare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Revolution_Analytics" title="Revolution Analytics">Revolution Analytics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/RiskIQ" title="RiskIQ">RiskIQ</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ScreenTonic" class="mw-redirect" title="ScreenTonic">ScreenTonic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secure_Islands" class="mw-redirect" title="Secure Islands">Secure Islands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simplygon" title="Simplygon">Simplygon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Skype_Technologies" title="Skype Technologies">Skype</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sunrise_Calendar" title="Sunrise Calendar">Sunrise Atelier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_SwiftKey" title="Microsoft SwiftKey">SwiftKey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/TakeLessons" title="TakeLessons">TakeLessons</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Teleo" title="Teleo">Teleo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tellme_Networks" title="Tellme Networks">Tellme Networks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Twisted_Pixel_Games" title="Twisted Pixel Games">Twisted Pixel Games</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Undead_Labs" title="Undead Labs">Undead Labs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vermeer_Technologies" title="Vermeer Technologies">Vermeer Technologies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Visio_Corporation" title="Visio Corporation">Visio Corporation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Flux_(graphics_software)" title="Flux (graphics software)">Vivaty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/VoloMetrix" title="VoloMetrix">VoloMetrix</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NetShow" title="NetShow">VXtreme</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MSN_TV" title="MSN TV">WebTV Networks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sysinternals" title="Sysinternals">Winternals Software</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xamarin" title="Xamarin">Xamarin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xandr" title="Xandr">Xandr</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/AppNexus" title="AppNexus">AppNexus</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yammer" class="mw-redirect" title="Yammer">Yammer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yupi" title="Yupi">Yupi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/ZeniMax_Media" title="ZeniMax Media">ZeniMax Media</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Category:Microsoft" title="Category:Microsoft">Category</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&oldid=1259109670">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&oldid=1259109670</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_trademark_case_law" title="Category:United States trademark case law">United States trademark case law</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Microsoft_litigation" title="Category:Microsoft litigation">Microsoft litigation</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:2004_in_United_States_case_law" title="Category:2004 in United States case law">2004 in United States case law</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:2004_in_Canada" title="Category:2004 in Canada">2004 in Canada</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_matches_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description matches Wikidata">Short description matches Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Use_mdy_dates_from_July_2022" title="Category:Use mdy dates from July 2022">Use mdy dates from July 2022</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Good_articles" title="Category:Good articles">Good articles</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 23 November 2024, at 12:10<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-486j8","wgBackendResponseTime":145,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.514","walltime":"0.617","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1955,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":85843,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":1446,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":12,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":2,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":88057,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 532.503 1 -total"," 40.99% 218.284 1 Template:Reflist"," 25.82% 137.498 11 Template:Cite_web"," 23.66% 125.975 4 Template:Navbox"," 23.04% 122.682 1 Template:Microsoft"," 13.53% 72.048 1 Template:Short_description"," 8.76% 46.649 9 Template:Main_other"," 8.28% 44.095 2 Template:Pagetype"," 6.81% 36.284 8 Template:Cite_news"," 6.14% 32.684 1 Template:Good_article"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.289","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":5348104,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-api-ext.codfw.main-7556f8b5dd-x2vbw","timestamp":"20241123121022","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Microsoft v. MikeRoweSoft","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Microsoft_v._MikeRoweSoft","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q557237","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q557237","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2005-06-12T10:16:08Z","dateModified":"2024-11-23T12:10:21Z","headline":"legal dispute"}</script> </body> </html>