Intel accuses Psion of netbook "fail"

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 25 Feb 2009 at 12:12

Intel has plunged into the fight over who owns the term netbook, accusing Pison of abandoning the term.

Psion sent out cease and desist notices last year to PC manufacturers and websites demanding they stop using the term netbook in their advertising. The company registered the term as a trademark in the 1990s.

Intel has reacted angrily to Psion's claims, arguing that Psion trademarked the term for a line of notebook computers that have been defunct since 2003. The filing goes on to claim that Psion lost control of the term when it allowed it to become commonplace.

"Psion claims it has exclusive right to use the term netbook. It does not," Intel states in the filing.

"The consuming public has already adopted netbook as a genric term for a category of notebook computer that are small, inexpensive, and contain less processing power... It is well established that netbook does not operate to identify a single source, or brand, of any such computer; netbooks are simply extensions of the notebook category. Psion's allegations therefore fail."

The stance has already drawn a harshly-worded lawsuit from Dell which accuses Psion of abandoning the term and fraudulently claiming it was still in use.

The PC manufacturer has also petitioned the court to strip Psion of the trademark.