Just when Microsoft seemed poised to invade the console market with their trademark evil efficiency, a small, Florida-based financial software developer has stepped on their toes. The company, XBox Technologies, has laid claim to the trademark, saying they registered it last March, several months before Microsoft. Predictably, XBox's CEO is standing firm, saying "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." Unfortunately, the latter appears to be the more likely scenario, as neither side is budging from their position.

What impact this will have on the planned fall launch of the X-box in uncertain at this point, but Microsoft is no stranger to court battles, as their lengthy antitrust suit will attest to. They are also no stranger to the role of evil corporate giant; a company executive, when reached for comment, gave the ominous reply that "We're certainly confident about what the outcome will be - we will prevail." With this sort of attitude, if the companies dig in and this case drags out, it could spell an unfortunate delay in the platform's release. This, in turn, could be bad news for the X-Box, as reports out of Japan are indicating consumer interest in the system is perhaps below what Microsoft would like. Whatever the case, hopefully a peaceful resolution can be arrived at before a court date becomes necessary.