jkOnTheRun Op-Ed: the Psion netbook trademark situation
The news that broke this holiday weekend about the move by Psion Teklogix to step in and start enforcing their “netbook” trademark ruffled a lot of feathers. The netbook term has been reported to have been created by Intel and thus fair game for Psion according to some.
I’ve been giving this whole situation a lot of thought and want to weigh in with my thoughts on this trademark thing with Psion. First of all we should set the record straight, Intel did not create the term “netbook” to describe the sub-notebooks that they have come to describe. The term started appearing on many different web sites and from different sources and it wasn’t until the term seemed clear to stick that Intel moved in and started using it officially.
I believe this is important to clarify because the way the netbook term came to be is the same way that other generic terms come to be used. The public starts using the term to describe a product or class of products and that’s what sticks. This is not fair to lay on the feet of Intel, the term was already being used when they jumped on it. They actually were trying to get the term MID popular, something that has only been somewhat successful.
So even if the term netbook has been generically adopted to describe the little notebooks what does that mean given this Psion situation? I’m not a lawyer so I can’t really say. I have mixed emotions about this, I am a firm believer in the right of entities to protect their trademarks and intellectual property. Psion did have an actual product named the netBook and they did trademark the name. That means something to me and it should.
The problem sets in when you realize that this product is not produced nor sold currently, and hasn’t been for a few years. You can make an argument that there is no product so there should be no claim to the trademark. That doesn’t exactly fit though as Psion does actively support the netBook product even today. So you can make a case either way, Psion deserves to enforce the trademark or they should let it go.
I believe the reason that some are reacting negatively toward Psion has to do with their waiting until the netbook term became very commonly used for the sub-notebooks. I’ve seen many comments to the effect that Psion should have stepped forward when the term was first bandied about months ago. There is some merit to this argument but not doubt Psion will respond that they were waiting until it was apparent the “misuse” of the term was going to continue.
Whatever side of this fence you sit on this will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Trademarks are serious things and should be treated as such. The argument can be made that they are enforceable no matter what is going on or how long the “misuse” has been taking place. It’s not straight-forward as you can see.
Imagine this hypothetical scenario: Company X steps forward today and claims that the term “notebook” is in fact their trademarked term. Research shows that years ago Compnay X did in fact trademark the term so their claim is legitimate. That aside what could be done about it? The term notebook has been used by everyone dealing with laptops for years and it’s a very generic term now. It’s not clear-cut what would or should happen.
Let’s just start using a different term. Psion will be happy and everyone except Intel will be happy. They’ll have to get a different domain for their netbook web site but so be it.
Based on a successful Psion campaign to get their trademark back, what should we call these little cheap laptops? We’re interested to hear what you think, leave your new name in the comments and let’s see if something sticks.
I’m partial to lapbooks myself… *grin*
How about totebook or litebook.
IDC and Gartner currently use the term “mini-notebook” to describe the category. It’s a mouthful, yes…
IDC: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUK21477008
Gartner: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=740312
How about “psions”, or “powerbooks” or “informationsuperhighwaybooks”?
No but seriously, would subnotebook apply, as someone mentioned the other day? If not, the suggestions above are good, or maybe webbooks, smallbooks, microbooks.
I think what will happen is that people will call these whatever they want to call them, even if that term doesn’t appear in advertising or on blogs. Maybe Psion could license the name for a reasonable fee to manufacturers?
Hmm, seems this is more an Ed than an OpEd
My HP Mini is really no different than my Thinkpad, except it’s somewhat smaller and somewhat underpowered. And my Thinkpad in turn is not that different from certain other notebooks that are larger and somewhat more powerful. Why don’t we have a special name for those 17″ machines? Maybe MonsterBook?
Some people consider “cheap” to be a part of the netbook spec. Well, there are plenty of larger notebooks that are just as cheap as certain netbooks.
Quite frankly, to me this is just all silly. It’s a frikkin’ laptop or notebook, and it might be smaller or cheaper or less powerful than others, but it’s still the same type of machine. Inventing a name for it makes no sense to me.
No can do.
NetbookService.com & NetbookSupport.com
The devices are small, so let’s call them kneetops – hehehehe
I’m with Psion on this in protecting their trademark. And I can’t recall any manufacturers using the term netbook for their products (and if my memory is holding up in this case its probably because the manufacturers did a trademark search as part of their own marketing process and found Psion’s related use). It really seems to be the ‘marketplace’ of blogs and retailers that are using the term (and admitedly it is a good one). I don’t know the best solution other than to get momentum behind a non-infringing term. J & K, why not lead the way with a new term that is trademark free?
Patrick
im looking forward to calling it netbook but typing “ne7bo0k” as this is not psions TM
and we G33Ks stand together 
How’s about “Newton”? I’ve not seen a product by that name for ages
We could then have Newtonian bags and newt-accessories etc etc
Based on the marketed intent for these little jewels I’d like to propose “n@tbook”.
netjournals
I can appreciate Psion’s perspective — the whole point of registering a trademark is to prevent others from using it. A quick search of the TESS database shows that other companies recently submitted applications for trademarks containing the word “netbook”:
NETBOOK – Psion Plc (11/21/2000)
G NETBOOK – Digital Gadgets LLC (7/21/2008)
WIND NETBOOK – MICRO-STAR INT’L (9/26/2008)
COBY NETBOOK – Coby Electronics (10/10/2008)
NETBOOK COBY – Coby Electronics (10/10/2008)
Psion might be circulating the C&D letters as part of it’s legal positioning to challenge these new trademark applications. If these other companies are successful, maybe Intel should just register the name “Atom Netbook” or “Atombook”.
TESS Link:
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=u130t5.5.12
Oliver makes a great point.
Get ready for this…
Small Laptop.
Yeah.
Sleazy lawyers trying to make some EZ money. This is one of the things wrong with this country. In Russia they would simply be shot (or mysteriously disappear).
weebook
Come up with a new name to describe small mobile computers without infringing any copyrights?
WiiBook?
Dagnabbit…
No seriously, if Psion still actively developed and marketed the Netbook, I’d back them up on this. But the fact they haven’t done that for years just makes them stupid, lazy, and greedy.
To be honest, I second Atombook. The chips are pretty ubiquitous when it comes to these little machines anyways(still waiting VIA, one samsung doesn’t count). I like how it sounds, and certainly it would make Intel happy.
Intel’s netbook is a concept and not a product.
ClassmatePC, UMPC, or how about a LitePC
I agree with those who don’t believe we need a special word. Mini laptop, mini notebook, small laptop, hyperpowerful calculator all work.
Microcomputer
pocketBook
Smallbook
Naptop computer
Slim
LeanPC
Neatbook
I reckon knetbook, with a silent “k”
or Pnetbook with a silent P, if you really want to annoy (P)sion.
Nutbook
PauperPC
3Gpc
Superbook
Netbiok
Seriously what hope do Psion have in getting people to stop using a term that has now become part of the vernacular? It’s like someone having a trademark on sugar, just because they enforce it later doesn’t mean everyone in the world stops calling this substance sugar. Even if it’s branded something else people will still call it sugar. We have a great example here in Australia where we call things an Esky. It’s a big plastic box that keeps food and drink cool. I always wondered why the Kiwis (people from New Zealand) call them chilly bins, until one day Iasked a Kiwi and he said it’s because Esky is just a brand and the item is a chilly bin. You know he was dead right, but I never even knew that. Ever since I’ve noticed here in Oz there are dozens of brands of these things but everyone calls them Eskys, as in; can you get me such and such from the esky? Doesn’t matter that there’s a big Brand X printed right on the top. Netbook, right or wrong (I always thought of them as subnotebooks) is what people know them as now, Asus, Toshiba, whatever. Pass me the netbook please
Oh for goodness sake, just keep using the term netbook. We’re talking Psion against a legion of wholesale and retail resellers here. Psion industrial products depend on that very same wholesale channel. They won’t sue anybody… if they do they are gone.
Owner NetbookService.com & NetbookSupport.com
The law on trademark issues is actually pretty clear in both US and English legal systems, both statute and common law (and probably Scots law and a fair few others too, but I’ve not read up). It’s not like a patent, where you pay money for the exclusive right to some intellectual property. To make a case for trademark infringement, Psion would have to demonstrate that the customer would be confused into thinking that the small laptops released under the “netbook” name are in fact Psion netbooks. This simply cannot happen because:
1) No company has actually released a netbook called “netbook”. Therefore no netbook company has infringed on their trademark.
2)
a)
i) Their trademark is essentially meaningless in the public mind from disuse.
ii) The customers around today who are aware of the original Psion Netbook product are well aware of the distinction between that and Eee-alikes anyway.
b) Therefore it seems unlikely that anyone buying a “netbook” from the store would be confused into thinking it was a Psion product or compatible.
Furthermore it has to be pointed out that this has absolutely nothing to do with blogs covering netbooks, as they are not in the business of making or selling netbooks. jkOnTheRun could spend the next eight thousand years referring to the Eee PC as the “Psion Netbook” and it would never constitute trademark infringement.
Their legal team have to be aware of all this (otherwise they should be fired) making this a very cynical ploy to set up a de facto protection of the trademark by threatening people who use it.
The law doesn’t really matter here… Psion has chosen a destructive route in terms of their marketing channels. I imagine their marketeers and lawyers finger pointing each other during the new year’s reception about whose idea it was to send out those C&D letters.
I agree with Alex – they are just trying to bluff. The law just is not on their side.
But at the same time they are shooting themselves in the foot.
I hope they lose the case and a bucketload of dosh.
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 ??
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.
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.
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
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.”
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.)
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.
Wow, I didn’t know so many lawyers and legal scholars (and Holiday Inn Express guests) are frequenting jkOnTheRun…
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!
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.
I call my Nokia Internet tablet a “tiny computer” or “Internet tablet thing.” I know, I’m hideously uncool.
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.
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
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.
ATOMBOOK
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!