Security company claims 27 firms "bullied" by Intel

A FIRM that has received a letter from the Intel Corporation threatening to sue it for using the word "intel" in its own name has told the chip giant it will go to court to fight its case.

We reported in June that 7intel, a company of private investigators was told by Intel to "cease and desist" from using those five letters as part of its name.

But now Gary Stapleton, who runs 7intel in the North of England, has hit back at the chip corporation in what he describes as "a thinly veiled attempt to bully them".

Stapleton said today that an Intel lawyer had told him over the phone that the firm intends to prosecute his firm for "passing off".

But he retorted: "We believe Intel is getting poor legal advice. Obviously it's ridiculous to postulate that 7intel, a security, investigations and intelligence services agency are 'passing off' as Intel, which makes microchips".

He said: "In the UK we have laws against malicious prosecution precisely to dissuade this type of abuse of the legal system and frankly no decent British judge would allow it hearing time".

Stapleton said he will "not be intimidated by some American organisation".

He said: "Intel will never get its hands on his website", which is WWW.7INTEL.COM .

He claimed Intel has written to another 26 UK businesses which have titles containing the letters "intel" along similar lines. µ

* INTEL HAS given us a response to this story. The firm said:

"The Intel brand is one of the most valued brands in the world. Over the years we have invested billions of dollars to create that value. Like any other asset we have an obligation to our shareholders to protect that asset.

"Unlike other intellectual property, trademark law requires a company like Intel to take proactive steps to protect its trademark or run the risk of losing rights in the trademark.

"Intel generally tries to work with companies and individuals to amicably resolve trademark disputes. However, we have an obligation to our shareholders to protect our brand investment, and an obligation under trademark law to proactively protect our marks."

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