Comments on: jkOnTheRun Op-Ed: the Psion netbook trademark situation

By: Vip Amin

Vip Amin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:54:24 +0000

I have recently acquired a Psion Netbook Pro. Psion’s support for this device does not exist! Frankly, I have written off my investment after my third week of struggle and countless hours of searching for help – Psion provides no support and it is clear that their ongoing investment in Netbook (satisfied customers)- post launch – amount to ZERO! Why then should they be entitled to hold the trademark? Psion, may I suggest that you simply surrender it to another organisation willing to support users and develop the platform – else, give it up and stop the hype, please!

By: KPB

KPB — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:51:33 +0000

ATOMBOOK

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:25:45 +0000

Psion can kiss my netbook. You cannot sit for over a year, let the term become generic and then cry foul.

They have been named netbooks by the general public and much like Escalator Company of the past, Psion is out of luck.

By: Marcus Newton

Marcus Newton — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:56:25 +0000

So obviously they(Psion) are going to target companies like my start-up called ThinkNetbook as it is a infringement on the trademark right?

Or could I get away with never using the term “netbook” on my site and just use ThinkNetbook as my company name?

I will be a retailer selling Netbooks (I refuse to call them anything else — the term is cool)

Much cooler than mini-notebook — what a mouthful!
-Marcus

By: Ernie

Ernie — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:57:52 +0000

Let’s call them an Ibook or Ebook.

Let’s get real personal.”Mybook” or “Mibook”

I own 2 and they don’t care what I call it.
They still love me and work everytime.

By: Decade

Decade — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:50:39 +0000

I call my Nokia Internet tablet a “tiny computer” or “Internet tablet thing.” I know, I’m hideously uncool.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:28:20 +0000

Actually, Alex, you are correct, and Woadan, you are incorrect. This has little to do with the discussion going on here, but as an IP attorney I feel it important to correct the record. Intellectual Property (IP) is property developed by your intellect (i.e., developed in your mind) and is thus intangible until reduced to some tangible form (a patent, a trademark registration, a copyright registration, etc). Trademarks are indeed IP. Do a little research on your own and you will verify that what I am asaying is correct.

There – now I feel better. ;)

By: Alex Whiteside

Alex Whiteside — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:43:23 +0000

You’re right, Woadan, they’re not IP. I clutched for the wrong term. I’d agree that they probably left it too late. It’s easier to imagine them making a convincing case before everyone and their dog was using “netbook” for other products. It’s a good lesson in why companies push to stop genericisation!

By: Oliver

Oliver — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:51:41 +0000

Wow, I didn’t know so many lawyers and legal scholars (and Holiday Inn Express guests) are frequenting jkOnTheRun… :)

By: RalfM

RalfM — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:34:59 +0000

Levi, I believe you are so close… this holiday season is actually called bloggers’ season by many web 2.0 marketeers… the release date of the C&D letters is chosen wisely… its content however is ludicrous… and distribution by e-mail is error prone as spam filters might trash it. How to say whether one has been notified or not?

I got more to say on the issue, as I and many others used the term years before to the release of Psion’s netBook in 1999. Read about it in a day or two on http://www.psionnetbook.com.

By: Levi Littvay

Levi Littvay — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:55:33 +0000

RalfM was the one who got it. This is why they say that unless you actively protect your trademark, you lose it. And this is why this doesn’t work:

they were waiting until it was apparent the “misuse” of the term was going to continue.

Any reasonable court would say that you did not protect it, you lost it.

I think they know this. And this is why they are going after Blogs (contrary to what they claim they are doing). Blogs are read by people. :) Intel’s legal documents are not.

They figured out they can benefit from this. They are probably scrambling to bring out a netBook update and prey to got we’ll keep chatting about this until they do. (Hence they second press release.) Then they’ll get some free advertising.

Of course I could be all wrong but I am not I am quite disgusted by the practice. I don’t think bloggers should give them their space because they then they win. (Of course I know this is not realistic. It will be all over the blogs when they come out with the netBook 2.)

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:40:44 +0000

Thanks for the thought, Woadan! Unfortunately, I’m sure the Everex folks have that name taken with their CloudBook model of netbook. Oops, I mean with their “cheap and small notebook suffering from an identity crisis.” ;)

By: Woadan

Woadan — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:36:26 +0000

Trademarks, for the record, are not what is called “Intellectual property”, or as it is often referred to, “IP”. (Never mind that property laws are designed to set legal precedents on how to handle scarce resources, and IP is not a scarce commodity…)

Trademarks, or marks in trade, are used to identify a specific product. Apple identifies a particular brand of computers; Coca-Cola is a specific brand of cola beverage; Kleenex is a particular brand of facial tissue. Remember that the trademark is as much the words as it is the graphical representation of them.

I agree with James that a company should be allowed to protect their mark in trade. I also agree that this one is problematic because they no longer make the product, only peripherals.

I think in this Psion may have waited too long, and the risk is that their trademark has been diluted. In legal terms, though I am not a lawyer (and don’t play one on TV), this could mean that they lose the mark in trade.

FWIW, I think we should call these cloudbooks in honor of Kevin.
;)

Woadan

By: quixote

quixote — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:33:17 +0000

Trademarking catchy terms after they’ve come into common use has got to stop. It reminds me of the Dilbert cartoon where somebody (Dogbert? Microsoft?) patents the ones and the zeros. Sure, intellectual property law that protects creativity is essential. IP law rubberstamping every greedy, ga-ga idea to grab money is the opposite.

By: Joel McLaughlin

Joel McLaughlin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:40:22 +0000

The term Psion used is: netBook

The term we use for Eee PC, Acer One, MSI Wind and other like them is:Netbook

There IS a difference. Also, Psion is late to the game. We’ve been calling them netbooks for a year now and finally Psion is bitching because someone decides to put it in their trademark? Why doesn’t Psion bring out another netBook.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:47:32 +0000

Maybe this will help others name these things…These diminutive (I do like wee) portable, battery powered computers are just old tech in a different weight/shape/size form factor. Meanwhile they aren’t books (a naming convention leapt at first by Apple, I think) and don’t really share any similarities with them. Their user attributes include low cost, attractive packaging and convenience. Mostly though they’re Model T’s with new paint. Underneath they have either a geek friendly OS or a creaky, vulnerable XP. They are fun but in a couple of years the wave will be gone replaced by something being developed now in a skunk-works project at Apple or ??