Pythos posted in our forum about an interesting C.net article, which refers to another article at the Financial Times website. Apparently there is another company, Xbox Technologies, which may have a prior claim upon the name Xbox and which is now in negotiations with Microsoft over the matter. So far, neither side appears to have given ground on the issue. Some quotes from the article follow:
...Any hold-up in the launch would be a huge embarrassment for Microsoft. The company has already recruited more than 150 developers to produce games for the Xbox - its first major hardware product which will compete with Sony's Playstation 2.
Xbox Technologies filed the first of its 47 current applications for the Xbox brand with the US Patent and Trademark Office back in March 1999. It plans to use it as an umbrella name for its software companies as well as a name for specific software products.
Microsoft filed its first application in October 1999. But John Van Leeuwen, chief executive of Xbox Technologies, said the first he knew about Microsoft's involvement was early in 2000 when he heard the news of Microsoft's ambitions in the games arena...
...Mr van Leeuwen said he contacted Microsoft soon after, kicking off a round of negotiations that have yet to bear fruit. There's no way that we can co-exist, he said. We can't afford to have our business confused with games for kids. Either we find a business solution or we get into a legal battle.
Mr Van Leeuwen said he had already offered to buy out Microsoft's claim on the name, but was rebuffed. He would not comment on whether he would be willing to sell his rights to the brand.
A Microsoft spokesman said he was aware of the situation but could not comment on ongoing negotiations. We're certainly confident about what the outcome will be - we will prevail. ...
What's our take on the matter? Well, I can't speak for the rest of the R.net crew, but I do wonder about the matter a little. Something which I'll discuss more in our community forum. At this point the name XBox is already so well-hyped in gaming circles - one might even say entrenched - that this could be a very costly dispute. Whom do you think will really win? A company that most of you never heard about before this, or titanic Microsoft?