Ethics is a county of England where the girls wear Eva Glass slippers
|
|
|
Intel wades into Psion
CHIPZILLA HAS JOINED THE LEGAL FRAY over Psion's trademark on the term 'netbook'.
In papers filed in California, Intel has demanded an immediate judgement cancelling the trademark and ensuring Psion desists from instigating trouble again.
Psion reckons it trademarked the term 'netbook' back in 1996, but its products based around the name never got much mileage and it was never used again.
Psion, now almost a shell of its former self, appears to have transformed into a patent troll, suing netbook advertisers left right and centre. Frustrated, Dell recently filed suit against Psion and now Intel appears to have joined in.
Chipzilla said it reintroduced the term, as the name of a new class of devices when it unveiled Menlow. Intel also owns netbook.com and links it to its own Atom marketing site.
In its 13-page filing, catchily titled Complaint for Injuctive Relief, Declaratory Judgement, and Cancellation of Trademark from Federal Register, we can't help but notice Intel is being a bit catty.
Intel notes its action arises from allegations that Palm has the exclusive right to use the term 'netbook'. It does not, says Intel, putting its paw down.
The great unwashed have already adopted 'netbook' as a generic term for a category of notebook computers which are small, inexpensive and have less processing power, making them optimal for connecting to the internet, according to Chipzilla.
Intel said it was well established that 'netbook' does not actually identify a single source, or brand, of any such computer. Netbooks are simply extensions of the notebook category, smaller computers purpose-built for mobile internet access.
Psion's trademark registration for the term Netbook cannot "resuscitate its alleged rights in a generic term", according to the filing.
Intel calls for the court to cancel Psion's trademark registration, declare Intel's use of 'Netbook' lawful, and enjoin Psion from asserting rights in the netbook term in the future.
Intel says Psion's claim that it used the term Netbook in commerce for five consecutive years after the date of registration or the date of publication was a fraud, since the netBook line died out shortly after the trademark was granted in 2000.
It may not go all Intel's way, however. Lawyers from Psion argue that the reason the name 'netbook' has been so extensively used is because Intel has been marketing and promoting the term. If Intel was found to have made the name generic through marketing, then a court could find in favour of Psion. µ
L'Inq
Information Week
Share this:
Share
It's a bit disappointing to see this article refer to Psion as a patent troll. There's no dispute over patents and Psion aren't trying to sue Intel over some imaginary device that they managed to scribble on a bit of paper first even though they couldn't build it.
It's a dispute over a trademark. Psion fairly registered it in 1996 and it certainly wasn't a term you heard in IT at the time. They made two real products using that name as well as the netPad family of products.
Describing this situation as patent trolling is what you expect to read on weekend blogs written by people with day jobs.
When you have crotchtops?! (Is "crotchtop" a trademark of the INQ?)