I talked to someone who had worked at Microsoft Research, who mentioned that it is actually policy to name projects after cities. Apparently it's not possible t

I talked to someone who had worked at Microsoft Research, who mentioned that it is actually policy to name projects after cities. Apparently it's not possible to trademark a name of a city, so this protects against being sued for trademark infringement. Since Microsoft has lots of money, they are a tempting target for lawsuits.