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Netbooks Popular Enough For a C&D From Psion
Kevin C. Tofel writes "After watching the netbook industry explode from nothing to 14 million sales in year, the time is right for Cease & Desist letters. Psion, a UK computer company that years ago sold a small sub-notebook called a netBook, is starting to protect the term. At least one netbook enthusiast site received a C&D for using the 'netbook' term and others are sure to follow. The site was given three months to stop using the term. Ironically, it isn't the enthusiast sites that coined the popular term. In the spring of 2008, Intel dubbed these devices netbooks to help define a market for their low-powered Intel Atom CPU."
Hey uh, unlike patent and trademark trolls, apparently Psion are still using the trademark, which they did come up with on their own before anyone else.
The only jerks here are you and your knee.
--
BMO
If you search here for the term "Netbook", 18 entries come up, one of which is a live trademark assigned to Psion. It's interesting that neither Intel nor the various manufacturers and retailers marketing computers under the term "netbook" took the trouble to do this simple web search.
Bruce Perens.
Actually it's not garbage, they own the Trademark and are entitled to protect it.
/.
This is not some dodgy submarine "patent", it's well established Trademark law. Any commercial operation in the same situation would do the same. Even
If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
It's just a Cease & Desist letter. They have also, reasonably IMHO, given them 3 months to stop using their Trademark.
If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
Read that again. This time with emphasis on the words jerk and knee.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Not publicly. My experience has been:
1) Notice (or be notified of) a copyright or trademark offense.
2) Try to contact the company.
3) Get a reply from person 1 who:
a) Doesn't have the power to fix anything.
and/or
b) Doesn't care.
4) Go back and forth with person 1 for a few months.
5) Deal with person 2..n who:
a) Took over for person n-1 when they:
i) Quit.
ii) Went on vacation or maternity leave.
b) Is person n-1's supervisor or someone from a completely different department in another time zone (and who can't change anything or doesn't care).
This goes on for several months until I send an angry certified letter to the president of the company or hand the matter over to my lawyer.
It's quite possible that Psion are a gaggle of jerks. It's also possible that they've been trying to get this resolved privately with no joy.
Their netbooks were basically overglorified organizers.
Their trademark is filed under "Goods and Services: laptop computers". That doesn't leave much room.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I used to have Psion Netbook. Pretty much the same idea as "netbooks now". Similar proportions, very modest tech spec, can add apps, but mostly intended to be used with the built in apps, much cheaper than a laptop.
But they were about 8 years too early to market. And they didn't sell many.
They don't currently have a netbook but thay probably see that now is the right time to resurrect the idea and call it the Psion Netbook again. And to do that they need to and have a perfect right to prevent others from using their trademark.
Everyone who says the concept and the name is obvious, wasn't paying attention back in the years when Psion was first working on this stuff. Not only was it not obvious, most couldn't at that time see it was a valid market - it was too different.