Doesn't matter if they don't use the trademark though, they filed for it and were given...if they revoke Psion's trademark, then it will be a classic case of big companies bullying smaller ones.

Well Intel hasn't used the Pentium name for sometime now I wonder how Intel would feel is Psion decided to start using it on a new brand of processors. If Psion loses in court then I hope they do something like this because I would love to see Intel trying to explain why its okay from them to infringe on others trademarks but not viceversa.

I don't think this is a case of a big company bullying a smaller company at all. The term netbook was coined from "internet notebook." This looks like a case of a little company trying to milk money out of a bigger company.

"Intel is also arguing that the term netbook is now used by the public in a generic manner and that Psion lost control of its trademark by not acting in time to prevent this from happening."

That is the most BS argument I've ever heard. I hope Intel loses...

Terms like "netbook" are similar to words like "rollerblade," "xerox" or "kleenex" which at one time were patented brand names but now are used as generic terms. I don't think these companies won their lawsuits for every blogger or company that used those terms, so I highly doubt Psion will win this battle. I hate to say this, but I'm cheering for Intel on this one.

Big business bullying around small business. The trademark was given to Psion. Think of some other name.

Hey NuclearShadow Intel is selling Pentium processors right now every day! In fact I sell several Pentium Dual Core computers a day at work! Check it out: http://www.intel.com/products/proc [...] /specs.htm

It's only been two months since Intel released a Pentium product.

The thing is, the class of laptops we now know could've been called something else - heck, it could've been called anything else. We just happened to catch on to the name "netbook".

Xerox, rollerblade and kleenex all refer to a brand which were so prevalent, it became synonymous with competing products of the same kind. Xeroxes were and are still called Photocopiers, Kleenex are in reality tissues, and rollerblades....well, they're rollerblades.

My point, netbook and xerox are in a totally different situation.

Its funny because i never knew intel had anything to do with making the
term netbook as popular as it is today.
I mean you dont see anything like Intel's netbook platform on these netbooks.
And besides they are suing for 1.2 billion. Why?

Im not saying they shouldnt be awarded some money but how do you come up
with this figure. Your company was very profitable in the so called netbook
business. Actually they didnt make 1.2 billion dollars over the whole time
they where selling netbooks. And lets not talk about actual real dollars not
even 100 million. So how could you possibly be asking for a billion dollars.
Get real stop trying to milk it.

Intel isnt even selling netbooks. They just used the term to describe small
laptops that arent really laptops.

And if you really want to get into it. There so called netbook isnt anything
like whats out now. There stuff was always more like an organizer I thought.

They're probably counting on settling this without a court, and 1.2 gives them plenty of room to negotiate down to perhaps 0.4 and still make a nice living out of it.

It's arguable that anyone even enjoys using the term "netbook". If Psion was able to trademark the term, why should it be taken away now? It's not even a terribly popular niche, and arguably one that might fizzle away if it doesn't innovate constistantly... Also, Intel is practically damaging the "netbook" industry's innovation anyways with what its trying to do with Atom, so root for Intel all you want on this one but as Intel seeks to protects its eggs, so too should Psion and preferably without whining and crying.

The term netbook is gay.

I stick witht he Name EEE for ASUS, and copy cats for the rest.

The truth is, my EEE is not just for surfing the internet. So why call it a Netbook? a EEE is what a laptop/nootebook should be as it actually fits on your lap, where the 17" monsters have no right to use the name laptop/nokebook as they are not portable. Mini Laptop is a better term or sub notebook, but netbook is just stupid, as there sub notebooks don't have wifi or 3g build in them yet, so inernet usage is not always available to the product. Imagine calling a devide a cell phone when it can only use WIFI or have cell access sometimes?

By Intel's logic, they should lose all rights to x86. The x86 design is so popular and prevalent in today's PCs, Intel shouldn't have any rights to it anymore. If we are going to invalidate trademarks, might as well invalidate copyrights and patents too (they're all the same department). Find the most popular thing in any market and make it free to the public. Windows, iPods, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart, all these things should belong to us, because we made them so popular, screw the rights of the companies. Harry Potter was so popular I don't see why J.K. Rowling should get to hold the copyright for the rest of her life + 70 years, that's just not fair to all her millions of fans.

If Psion didn't have a proper claim to Netbook, it would be different, but Intel can't just argue to invalidate the trademark because they want to use it, that is bullying pure and simple. If Intel could show that NetBook was popular before Psion acquired the trademark in 1999, invalidate it. If NetBook didn't become popular until Asus released the EEE in 2007 (8 years later), then Psion has every right to defend its trademark. Remember 1999 was WELL before any other company released anything close to a Netbook. Psion was the first into this market, just a little ahead of their time (no Wi-Fi prevalence in 1999). They shouldn't be punished just because they pioneered a market.

common names shouldn't be trademarked at all. like MS was able to win against lindows for copying from the name windows. its stupid i hope intel wins this as it is stupid how you can copyright a name

I say nutz to Psion. Yes, they trademarked "Netbook"; the "Psion Netbook" and the "Psion Netbook Pro". This was a single product, it wasn't X86, it wasn't a laptop or PC, it was a clamshell (kinda) PDA running Psion's OS or Windows Mobile.

It's like trademarking the word "Processor", or "motherboard" or even "laptop". I'm sure somebody invented the word at one time, and it made so much sense that everybody started using it.

What if the first product called a "notebook computer" trademarked the name? I dont think it's fair... Convergent evolution, nobody is at fault here. Psion should use this as an opportunity to get INTO the netbook market- They've never been in it before.

If there was no trademark, do you realize how confusing things would be if different products used the same name? Also, if an add was on tv or someone read something, then googled it, they would have a hard time finding the product, or they might buy what another companies product by mistake. This is unfair as the primary company ois doing the marketing, and someone else bennifits off it.

So in a way trademarks is a good idea. But trademarks shouldnt be used for common named like 'windows', but in the case I think their tademakr is on windows being an OS. ANd in a way lindows sounds like windows, and could be confusing, but hey we know the difference between L and W., so i dont agree they conflict. But if someone was selling another OS then I would agree with that trademark.

actually, People in the macworld do not call the motherboard a motherboard cause that was trademarked for the x86 franchise, they call it the main logic board, or other terms. It is funny how it works, but in all honesty, it is such a generic term now that they should have compensation for when it was being mainstreamed, but should have no rights to a generic term now.

Couldn't have said it any better. +1.

actually no COMPANY has ever used those other trade mark terms for their product .. other "kleenex" makers always use tissue paper , other copy machine makers use the term copier or copy machine .. not xerox , sure the general public can call it what they want, hell my mom still calls every console a "nintendo" doesn't mean that a new console brand can come out and slap nintendo on thier box.

netbook is NO different, sure unoffically some one can say an "intel netbook" but offically it is highly illeagal for intel to slap netbook on their product's box.

you show me one company that puts Seros on thier copy machien or one tissue paper brand that used kleenex on their box and i'll show a company that is about to get sued to high heaven and justly so.

gah i meant xerox not seros ... dang typo gremlins getting in my keyboard again!.

no seriously it's not , the point to copy righting a name is BRAND recognition. with out this a company can die quickly. lets take a look at cold breakfast cereals , the brand Captain crunch is known all over the place , this cereal also has a million copy cat brands with varying degree of quality. Some people will buy ONLY the captain cruch brand and never one of it's knock offs... ok take away general mills right to that trademark name ... every knock off will start calling it's self Captain Crunch. and with out actually looking at the fine print you wont tell one from the other. See, no brand recognition and before you know it , General Mills is losing money to their copy cats, WHEN they were the ones that paid huge sums of money to reaserch and develope the original as well as paid an artist/concept team to come up with the name as well as thier slogan character.

i'm sorry but i find your opinion offensive and insulting not only to buisness but also to artist. Under your terms you would consider all art,music,hardware,(every thing creatively, or work intensive) un owned by the people who worked to bring about such things.

According to your thinking , any one should be allowed to make a tv show and call it star trek, or any one should be able make a console and call it a playstation, or any one should be able to write a song and call it Enter Sandman, or start a band and call it Megadeth.