Psion Teklogix sending out cease & desist letters to netbook-centric websites

Wow, talk about spreading that holiday cheer. Psion Teklogix has apparently hired a legal team to write up cease & desist letters that are being sent out to select netbook enthusiast websites. One particular letter is pictured above, and we can only assume the URL is hidden for the safety of those involved. jkOnTheRun dug a little deeper into the matter and found that the outfit did indeed produce a Netbook and Netbook Pro back in the day, and while the surprisingly netbook-like devices (imagine that, right?) have since been discontinued, it is still making compatible accessories. Something tells us Psion waited a touch too late to pick this fight, but just in case Engadget is next in line for one of these letters, we'll be utilizing the term smallcheap(er)book for the foreseeable future. Hope that's okay.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 31st 2008 12:51AM]

For those who complained and bitched, if you had an original product back in the 2000 that way ahead of anyone else would you try to protect it with a trademark. At least Psion Teklogix Inc. had a good product that was beyond it's time back in 2000. I don't see you anyone of you guys coming up to bat. Now, Psion Teklogix Inc. is just protecting it's product. Wouldn't you? I you spent all that money trademarking your product, you would do your best to protect it. It's all about marketing and ownership. Now, if the legal laws were changed, we can use Windows, Google and Oracle, but we just don't have those laws do we. We are just too scared or just don't have the money to fight for just mere words. "Just a mere phase can make millions" or "just do it".

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 26th 2009 4:55AM]

Bizarrely, I still have a Psion Netbook. It's about 8-9 years old now. It has an 8.5" touchscreen, instant-on, a rugged body with innovative hinges designed to withstand a fall of 3 feet, and a battery life of 18 hours. Absolutely light-years ahead of its time, although it's looking a bit dated now - you can't read the screen in bright sunlight. I've written 2 books on it and then transferred the files to my MacBook for formatting and editing - you have to use a conversion program, though