Definition of: Netbook (PC Magazine)
A subnotebook computer that costs less than $400. The term was coined by Intel in 2008 for computers that use the Intel Atom microprocessor. However, it may refer to small PCs that use non-Intel CPUs such as those made by AMD and Via.
A subnotebook computer that costs less than US$400 and incorporates an Intel Atom microprocessor.
Definition of Netbook (Gizmodo)
Netbook: This is actually the brainchild of Intel’s marketing department to describe sub-$500 notebooks centered around Internet connectivity, such as its Classmate PC. The original EEE PC, XO OLPC laptop and Cloudbook would fall into this category. While it is technically flackspeak, I actually like it because it’s short and fairly specific. Besides being endorsed by Intel (obvs), Ubuntu has officially picked up the term. Judgment: A keeper, even if it was coined by the Man.
The Psion/ Intel/ Dell netbook trademark posturing has captured the attention of a lot of folks who follow the mobile tech world. Now that lawyers and lawsuits are flying back and forth, it’s a topic of discussion all over the place. So what’s the big deal and why should anyone really care?
Netbooks have become such big sellers and such a big part of the notebook sales numbers that a lot is now at stake. While everyone was caught by surprise how popular these cheap laptops became (and how quickly), make no mistake how important they have become to the big players. That is why Intel and Dell have both sued to have Psion’s “netbook” trademark invalidated, and why Psion has countersued Intel. It’s always about the money, no matter how righteous everyone tries to appear.
Whether the Psion trademark should stand is not for me to decide. I am no expert in trademark law and don’t claim to be. All I can do is look at the known facts and try to figure this mess out for myself.
Fact: Psion Teklogix was granted a trademark for the term “netbook” due to products it designed and produced in the early 2000’s. They weren’t big sellers but they were innovative in their time and the USPTO granted the trademark based on that.
Fact: Psion discontinued production of the Netbook Pro around 2003. This is the basis for Dell and Intel claiming abandonment of the trademark on Psion’s part. Psion claims they have continued to sell the netbooks despite stopping production, and their suit claims they can prove it. In 2006 they reaffirmed the right to have the “netbook” trademark due to these sales. This would seem to be backed up by a press release by Psion in 2006 announcing a B2B contract to supply these devices. Note this was long before the the first “netbook,” the EEE PC, was a gleam in the Asus CEO’s eyes.
UPDATE: Psion has informed us that while the original Netbook device was discontinued in 2003 the Netbook Pro was released in 2003. It was discontinued in 2006.
Fact: Asus released the first EEE PC, later to become known as the first netbook, in September 2007.
Fact: “Netbooks” began to take off rapidly after that first EEE PC hit the shelves. This led to a scramble by blogs (including this one) and web sites that cover such technology to come up with an appropriate term to describe them. Asus simply used the EEE PC brand name and kept producing models and accessories under that name. Other “netbooks” starting appearing from folks like Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and HP, but to my knowledge none of them used the term “netbook” in their branding.
Fact: Intel ( intc) began pushing the “netbook” term to indicate small, cheap laptops running on the Intel Atom processor in February 2008. They picked up the netbook.com domain to promote these devices around the middle of 2008. The Intel netbook site launched in October 2008. They also began using the netbook term with the media in the last half of 2008. Interestingly, the netbook.com domain now redirects to the main Intel page as it appears their netbook site has been taken down.
Fact: In December 2008 Psion began notifying companies and web sites to cease and desist using the term “netbook” in ads and marketing.
Fact: In February 2009 came word that Google had investigated Psion’s complaint that their trademark was being violated in Google ads and Google determined that Psion’s trademark was indeed being violated. Ads with the term “netbook” were banned on Google’s ad network.
Fact: In February 2009 Dell sued to retract Psion’s trademark based on fraud, abandonment and that the “netbook” term had become too generic. Intel shortly followed suit, making the exact same claims as Dell. Psion then countersued Intel, answering the claims and refuting the abandonment, the fraud in 2006 to renew the trademark, and that the term is only generic due to Intel’s public adoption of the term.
Sumocat’s Scribbles points out that a Google Trends search on the term “netbook” shows very little activity until early in 2008. Sumocat claims this is proof that the term was not generic at all until Intel began publicly pushing the “netbook” term with the media.
That’s pretty much where things stand as of today and it appears to me that the telling issue is going to end up being whether “netbook” is indeed a term too generic for Psion to keep the trademark. That’s not a clear-cut issue by any means and there’s the added complication the court will have to decide if Intel is responsible for making that “genericness” happen.
As this has unfolded over the past few months some have questioned Psion’s motives behind the trademark defense, and as I can’t speak for them I won’t speculate on that. I do believe that the netbook phenomenon grew so fast that it caught all these players by surprise and that led to this trademark grudge match. Some question why Psion waited so long after the term became generic to make their claim but frankly that doesn’t wash. The term grew so fast that Psion likely couldn’t have moved faster. We all know how teams of lawyers slow things down.

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