Java Stays with Sun Sun refuses to turn over Java trademark to ISO By Alexander Wolfe, EE Times Palo Alto, Calif. -- Responding to requests that it give up its trademark rights to the Java programming language, Sun Microsystems last week told Intel and Microsoft it would not. "Microsoft is interested in one thing only-fragmenting Java and destroying the value of our brand," said Jim Mitchell, vice president of technology at Sun's Javasoft division. The executive spoke during a telephone press conference hosted by Javasoft to reply to an open letter released earlier this month by Intel and Microsoft. The letter, which was also signed by Compaq and Digital Equipment Corp., said that "Sun should agree to turn over ownership of Java to the International Standards Organization (ISO)." But Mitchell vowed that would not happen. "Sun cannot and will not surrender its trademark for Java to ISO," he said. "When a brand is turned over to a standards organization, they don't have the wherewithal to manage the brand. So all Microsoft is interested in is destroying the value of our brand." Sun is currently shepherding Java through the ISO standardization process, in hopes of nailing down a formal specification for the Internet-aware programming language. But objections from Microsoft and Intel have threatened to derail the effort. The most recent bones of contention center on ownership of the Java trademark and questions about how maintenance of Java and future updates to the language will be handled. Sun has answered its critics by saying that it has taken an open approach to the language, listening to objections and suggested updates from all companies--including Microsoft--that have licensed Java. As for folding bug-fixes and other corrections into the language, Sun said it intends to work with ISO but will also "maintain its own process." (Next article) (c) 1997 CMP Media, Inc [This article comes from EE Times in a joint cooperative effort with the Motley Fool. For more articles like it, please look at Fool's Gold every weekend or simply go to the Fool's Gold Mine and page through our back issues, which all have clever and cool EE Times articles in them.]

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