Netbook

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/24/psion-teklogix-sending-out-cease-and-desist-letters-to-netbook-cen/

Regards, Don

Pretty soon we will not be able to say a word without a C & D error occurring. I think I will trademark the word "the" and charge everyone who uses my word.... uh 1¢ (per use). That should do it.

It seems a little power crazed doesn't it, considering all the free publicity they're getting, however it's the mark of a failed trademark that the devices are not brand associated with Psion.

Taking it from the perspective of the law, if Psion want to maintain the trademark, they are obligated to follow up on infractions or they cannot pursue formal litigation surrounding breaches.

I think it would be more advantageous to Psion to be known as "the maker of the original netbook", than to be known as the company that peed on the netbook parade.

Total waste of a letter in my opinion. Intel reintroduced the term "netbook" as a generic descriptive item in Feb this year. Now you see the word netbook on the Dell computer website and many more others. For example:

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/ideapad/s-series?cid=us|semd|ggl|us_netbook_en|t12EBB|s&&s_kwcid=netbook|2604181951

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/laptop-mini?c=us&cs=19&l=en&ref=lthp&s=dhs&ST=netbook&dgc=ST&cid=38726&lid=975827

http://www.justnetbooks.com/shop.php?c=EeePC904&x=Asus_Eee_PC_904&gclid=CMbajv293JcCFQZinAodQ2EwDA

http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/product.jsp?modelNo=1010NR&EMC-KNC-2G0Y40407871&gclid=CPLmpP693JcCFRdinAodZ1aaCg

As I understand it, Psion didn't copyright the word "netbook," rather it was the hardware. But who knows...it seems like a threat to bite someone, but has no teeth. Time will tell.

I doubt it'd hold up in court. "Netbook" is prima facie a pretty generic term. That'd be kinda like everyone named Miranda suing for defamation of character over the use of the term "Miranda rights" on the argument that it implies they've all been arrested.

It is prima facie now, but was it when they protected it.

The term netbook is trademarked, not copyrighted. Psion registered the trademark in 2000 (in the USA).

I think Psion Teklogic has a pretty good case.

Here's a legal question for you:

Psion's original device was not the NetBook, but the Netbook Pro. So if a company trademarks a name, can they legally forbid using a portion of their trademarked name? How far can they go? Can they also send C & D letters to everyone who writes about a net, or a book?

No the original device was the Netbook. It ran Release 5 of the EPOC32 OS (Symbian is Release 6, 7, 8 of the same OS). The Netbook Pro was a WinCE based device with all hardware identical (except for the mainboard).

And the trademark is for the word "netbook", not "netbook pro".

Edited by Nate the great 2008-12-25 6:07 PM

I stand corrected, but still feel that trademark arguments are carried too far sometimes. Netbook (lately) has been a description more than a model name. It reminds me of MS's shenanigans trying to prevent anyone from using the word "Windows".

This case isn't so unreasonable. The term is now worth a fair amount of money, and Psion did think of it first. What's wrong with Psion making money off of their idea?


If you want to read a truly infuriating trademark case, try MonsterCable:
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/HallOfShame/MonsterCable/MonsterCable.shtml

Or the infamous Nissan dispute:

http://www.nissan.com/Digest/The_Story.php

Prepare to change your sig, theoak.

Done!