Connect with us

Hardware

Psion Responds Again in the Netbook Naming Wars

Published

on

save-the-netbooks-campaign-fights-the-impending-trademark-threatGeez, I take a long lunch so I can go lay on the chiropractor’s table for a little work out and Psion Teklogix decides to respoind about the recent legal actions from Dell and Intel. As expected, Psion doesn’t look to be giving up without a figh. In fact they are tossing out some of their own gauntlets.

Our good friend James Kendrick has the inside scoop as he received a letter from Psion stating that Dell and Intel are wrong when they claim that Psion isn’t still selling its products. Here’s a quote:

I can quite understand why people might have assumed that sales ceased a while back — it’s not as if the product has been in Best Buy.   But those people simply had no access to Psion’s confidential sales information.

So the facts are that, although manufacture has been discontinued, sales in the US and EU have not.       And its continuing sales that are important to preventing a trademark from becoming abandoned.   We’ll of course be setting the record straight in our court filings.

As I have been saying all along, those who think this is over just because Dell and Intel decided to defend their positions need to let this thing ride its legal course. We’re far from hearing any Fat Lady sing in this opera.

I also notice that another good friend and colleague Brad Linder at Liliputing is asking a queston that many are probably asking as well. Why did Psion wait so long and allow the term to become, as many claim, almost generic? The answer there is, I’m guessing, that it raises the stakes much higher for any potential settlement.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Sumocat

    02/27/2009 at 1:19 pm

    In Psion’s defense, Intel’s strategy of destroying the term as a trade name, rather than stealing it, presents an unusual and, as far as I can determine, unique challenge. Most people, even those who have been following the category, seem unaware that it even happened. How can anyone be expected to react swiftly to an unprecedented and largely unnoticed attack?

  2. GoodThings2Life

    02/27/2009 at 4:22 pm

    So Psion is a privately held company then that doesn’t need to release their financial statements documenting these so-called sales? Or have they and the sales have STILL gone unnoticed? Either way, Psion is just grasping at straws, and I’m sorry Sumocat, but I completely disagree with defending this company… underdog or otherwise.

  3. Sumocat

    02/28/2009 at 6:04 am

    GT2L: They’re simply pointing out that it’s not public knowledge that they’ve been selling units and claims to the contrary don’t take that into consideration. A great deal of misinformation is being spread and, frankly, that’s why I’m standing up for Psion.
    Psion’s case is defensible with facts. Intel’s case relies on ignorance. You’ve been following the scene. You should know Intel introduced “netbook” as a generic before it was in generic use. They genericized a registered trademark and can’t admit that in their lawsuit because they know it screws their case. It’s not a matter of supporting the underdog; it’s about supporting the truth.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.