Intel has finally broken its silence regarding
Psion's attempt to bludgeon the industry into submission with its trademark on the term "Netbook." Important stuff seeing as how Intel is credited with (re)introducing the term in its modern meaning back in March 08. Granted, it took awhile for the name to catch on (we asked you to
name the emerging laptop category in May) but ultimately stuck with the
deluge of Atom-based ultra-portables launched
at the Computex show in June of 2008. Unsurprisingly, Intel's position essentially mirrors that of
Dell although it was Intel that actually filed its lawsuit first: 1) the public already uses the term in a generic manner, and (2) Psion's Netbook has been out of production since 2003 with no intent of being reintroduced into the market. Stupid is as stupid does, right Psion?
[Via
Electronista]
Read -- Intel sues Psion
Read -- Intel's "Thoughts on Netbooks" (March 03, 2008)
posted Feb 25th 2009 3:01AM
stupid is as stupid does
You shouldn't be talking, your spoon is too big.
Clearly a shop, Forrest Gump had an Aspire One.
No he didn't. He had a Speak 'N Spell, much like many of the readers here. Not me though, I had a Talking Whiz Kid.
Was wondering when Intel would join in since they used the 'netbook' name first.
By first, I mean in referring to laptops that are low cost.
Intel & Dell are bullies. Leave Psion alone!
How fucking dare anyone out there make fun of Psion after all they have been through!
They made something that didn't sell, their product name was stolen.
THEY'RE RUN BY HUMANS! What you don’t realize is that Psion is making you all this money and all you do is write a bunch of crap about them.
They haven't sold anything in years. Their thing is called “give me more” for a reason because all you people want is MORE! MORE-MORE, MORE: MORE!.
LEAVE THEM ALONE! You are lucky they ever sold anything to you BASTARDS!
LEAVE PSION ALONE!…..Please.
Perez Hilton talked about professionalism and said if John Conoley was a professional he would’ve pulled it off no matter what.
Speaking of professionalism, when is it professional to publicly bash a cooperation who is going through a hard time.
Leave Psion alone please!
Leave Psion alone!…right now!….I mean it!
Anyone that has a problem with her you deal with me, because they are not well right now.
LEAVE THEM ALONE!
Second on that. Intel first used Psion's IP without permission and now they're suing to make it right??!? Pure bullying.
*cough*
It's a laptop. See? It fits on my skinny lap.
Must feel as heavy as a laptop to you too.
Jeez people can be fickle.
"Netbook" is PSION's trademark. End of. The PSION Series 7/Netbook *was* actually a proper Netbook you know, years and years before everyone else start making them. Ofcourse no-one gives a shit that PSION actually pioneered this stuff back in the day.
If its not the absolute latest steaming hot shit off the shovel, you guys don't give a damn do you?
An important consideration in trademark law is that a generic term cannot be trademarked. This holds true even if the term becomes generic *after* the trademark is obtained. This is why, for example, Coca-Cola makes damn sure that when you go to a restaurant and order "Coke", you get a Coca-Cola. If the term "coke" became generic, Coca-Cola would lose their trademark over it.
That's just one example out of a zillion. In this case, Psion didn't defend its trademark and "netbook" has now become a generic term. As such, it can no longer be trademarked.
@rdude
"An important consideration in trademark law is that a generic term cannot be trademarked."
Not as simple as that. The courts are very tough on when something is considered generic. Take small, adhesive bandages for example. Nearly all consumers in the US call them Band-Aids, yet only J&J can call their product that.
I think if Psion has the money to fight this one, they will win.
Not necessarily. J&J has an active product on the market called Band-Aid. So even though the term has become generic in popular culture, it is still a violation of trademark laws if anyone else puts out a product called "Band-Aid". At the same time, because Band-Aid is generic in popular culture, if J&J were ever to fail to defend their trademark to the point where others goods or services are using Band-Aid as a substitute for bandage (e.g. a movie mentions "Band-Aid" when using a generic bandage), there's a good chance they'd lose the trademark.
Psion doesn't have a product on the market called Netbook anymore. And they didn't bother to defend their trademark until very recently. As well, they stated that they won't defend their trademark if it is being used in a non-commercial context. That last bit can be taken that "netbook" has indeed become generic now.
No, Zut. It's not that we pay more attention to the latest and greatest, we just don't have sympathy for decrepit companies sitting on valuable patents and trademarks.
"Psion's Netbook has been out of production since 2003 with no intent of being reintroduced into the market"
er.. How doesn't anyone know Psions intentions? Although in fairness I doubt there is any reality of them bringing back any form of Netbook, but still! How can another company (Intel) state what Psions intentions are.. bloody cheek.
LEAVE BRIT.. er.. PSION ALONE!!!
Some patent wars don't deserve to be on Engadget...
Zut has it right. While I am not a lawyer (or IANAL if you want), I do recall reading often about what had been trademarked terms becoming generic and losing the right to object about the generic usage. Genericide is the proper phrasing of this concept. Band-Aid, Scotch Tape, and Kerosene are god examples of this. Hed Psion wanted to truly contest this, up seeing Intel use the phrase "netbook", a suite of infringement should have been filed.
Nonetheless, defense becomes a non-issue when considered that the term "netbook" is now a generic to describe small laptop devices.
mehbook
By this reasoning, maybe that Kogan Agora guy should call his Android device a "Newton".
Yes, but only if he fills it with tasty mashed figs.
@Dafrety
Ha! That was epic! For the uninitiated, Dafrety is intentionally mimicking Chris Crocker!
thank you mr obvious
Apparently I miss that aforementioned post, because I would have thrown out notepad PC, or notepad for short.