Microsoft has planned to discontinue using the word 'Metro' to describe its most recent user interface design, a report has said.
Metro is the name for the type-led design style that Microsoft has adopted across its products since the release of Windows Phone 7 in 2010.
According to a report by Technology blog The Verge, Microsoft employees said that the company planned to stop using the term Metro following 'discussions with an important European partner'.
It had been suggested that the Metro name was the subject of a trade mark dispute and was therefore being retired, The Telegraph reports.
The tech blog reported that Microsoft was in dispute with German firm Metro AG over the use of the name, but that has not been confirmed.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has told developers that they should refer to the ' Windows Phone' or ' Windows 8 ' interface, rather than to ' Metro'.