Gossip

Trademark dispute looms after Red Hat and Bull agreement

A big step in the "reliable computing" initiative is expected, following today's announcement that Linux distributor Red Hat will be entering into an agreement with French IT infrastructure company, Bull, with the promise of self-healing IT development.

The announcement means that Bull will be a preferred reseller for Red Hat Enterprise Linux solutions including Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, ES and WS.

The company, according to one analyst, Hank Maus, is likely to face a legal challenge from the makers of a popular high-caffeine soft drink, "Red Bull" - heavily marketed in the UK.

The agreement will see Bull responsible for delivering and helping to deploy Red Hat open source solutions to European customers, but the catch-line - "Red Bull Gives You Wings" would seem bound to cause confusion if adopted, Maus suggested, showing signs of over-work.

"Working with Red Hat, Bull is pleased to bring a standards-based solution to the European market," said Danielle Asheuer, Marketing Director of Bull. "Bull has had a long history of involvement in international Open Source projects such as ATLAS, the Linux Test Project and JOnAS. In concert with Red Hat, Bull will be able to provide integrated, complete Open Source solutions based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and JOnAS."

A special Linux initiative to create self-healing IT may provide the solution. If the joint venture between Red Hat and Bull specialises in this initiative, the Red Bull Self-Healing IT logo could come out of JOnAS - and that would surely be beyond legal redress?

Hank Maus is due for retirement on the grounds of poor taste. Or at least a long holiday. It is August, after all.