As the controversy over the legality of using the term ‘netbook’ for profit has heated up, the major players have all been taking sides. The latest is Dell, which has stepped in to challenge Psion’s Cease-and-Desist activities.
Psion’s stubborn defense of its right to the term is made on the grounds that it would like to ‘reaffirm’ its trademark, and desires the freedom to make one in the future. This is all too vague for Dell, which has petitioned the USPTO to cancel the trademark.
Dell’s argument for saving ‘netbook’ is threefold. Firstly, it claims Psion abandoned the trademark. It isn’t currently selling its netBook device, a line that was discontinued in 2003. Psion claims its use of the trademark is only “somewhat reduced”, because it still sells accessories for those machines.
The second argument put forth by Dell is that Psion is defrauding everyone. Herb Turzer, Psion’s Senior Product Manager, affirmed before the USPTO in 2006 that it continued to use the term netbook “in commerce on or in connection with all goods listed.” Turzer continued, claiming that Psion “has used [its] trademark in commerce for five (5) consecutive years after the date of registration.” This is, of course, problematic. Psion filed for its trademark in ‘96, but was only awarded it in 2000. By dicontinuing its netBook in 2003, Psion has made Turzer’s claims fraudulent.
The third argument is one we’ve heard before by blog.savethenetbooks.com: the term netbook is generic. It is arguable that the term has been around since the One Laptop Per Child program in 2006, though most of the major players’ netbooks appeared in 2007.
We’ve got both Dell’s petition (PDF link) and notice and trial dates (PDF link) for the upcoming legal fights, if they’re to happen. Psion has made no comment so far, and can wait until March 30 to respond to Dell’s petition.
Via Arstechnica.
