>Is LINQ proprietary to Microsoft or this is a universal way of doing things from many technologies? I saw an ad yesterday about Lync. At first, I thought it was a mistake. Then, I discovered is a proprietary to Microsoft. Assuming LINQ would be as well, wouldn't be confusing to have two product/technology having similar name and prononciation.

It is part of the .NET framework, so it is a Microsoft product and technology.