Linky what do you guys think, should Psion give up the Netbook trademark or should Intel have come up with it's own name from the get-go?
It just seems silly to trademark such a broad monicker like 'netbook'. And if the company is in fact not using it as intel states, I do not see any reason the term should remain locked as it is. Plus the term is so commonplace now that I seriously doubt any other term will take its place.
That's the thing though, Psion still have a product called Netbook Pro which although it's been discontinued Psion still say
Ok, wait, what? So Psion is still selling products with the netbook name, yet they've discontinued those products entirely? Either they're selling back-stock (and thus will only have very limited quantities), or they've no real understanding of what "discontinued" means. I just want to see the day that Kimberly Clark starts suing people over using the name Kleenex to describe a soft tissue in our every-day speech.
They patented it first and intel are sore, Anyone saying psion should let it go should realise that if this is the case all intellectual property rights are forfeit when you stop selling that product, even if you revise or create another iteration of it. Its just the same calling things like a Bic, Hoover and coke (cola). They are all trademarked names and are protected under law, just because society chose to adopt that word for that specific object doesnt mean they should forfeit THEIR RIGHTS, THEIR HARD WORK, THEIR INITITIVE just so another company can rip off their original idea and get away with it.
Plus, society calling an object by one of its trade name's is very different to a company releasing a similar product with the same name...
netBook is a trademark, not a patent, and you have to continue to use and defend your registered marks or you can lose them. Psion hasn't actively used the netBook mark in at least 6 years (except maybe on accessories on an obsolete and discontinued product ). The mark could've been considered abandoned, but Psion obviously doesn't agree. We'll just have to see if the USPTO agrees now.
