Intel joins Dell in protesting Psion's "netbook" trademark

"Simply extensions of the notebook category"

25 February 2009 15:33 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

We brought you the news that Dell has filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark office to request that Psion's ownership of the word "netbook" as a trademark be cancelled, and it seems Intel is now on the case too.

Intel has filed a complaint with the US District Court of Northern California requesting that Psion's "netbook" trademark be "negated".

Intel makes the Atom processors that are found in many of the little laptops, especially lower cost models, so has a vested interest in the future of the netbook industry.

Intel states: "The consuming public has already adopted 'netbook' as a generic term for a category of notebook computers that are small, inexpensive and contain less processing power, making them optimal for connecting to the internet".

"Netbooks are simply extensions of the notebook category... Psion's allegations [that netbooks aren't generic] must therefore fail".

Full tags

Hardware, Netbooks, Dell, Psion, Intel, Biz, Lawsuits