Microsoft may soon be running foul of graphics software specialist AutoDesk over its use of the phrase 'Suddenly everything clicks' in its UK Windows XP advertising campaign.

Why? It turns out that 'Suddenly everything clicks' is an AutoDesk trademark, as the company states on its Web site.

Microsoft UK has yet to respond to our request for answers to the following questions: has the ad has been used in the US and other countries; has Microsoft licensed 'Suddenly everything clicks' from AutoDesk?

An AutoDesk UK representative told The Register that the company was seeking clarification from its US-based legal team.

We were alerted to AutoDesk's ownership of the phrase by Register readers after we reported on a series of defacements of Windows XP billboards, apparently by British Linux fans keen to make the public aware that there is, in their eyes, a better alternative to Microsoft's latest operating system.

One ad has the words 'Fatal error: use Linux' sprayed across the advert. Another has the word 'clicks' replaced with the word 'sucks'.

Could the latter be an attempt by Microsoft Covert Operations to cover a potential trademark infringement? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

We've had reports of defaced 'Suddenly everything clicks' advertising boards in London and Bristol, but we'd be surprised if the ad hasn't appeared throughout the South-East and South-West of Britain. ®

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