Dell Challenges ‘Netbook’ & Accuses Psion of Fraud

In 2000, Psion trademarked the word “Netbook,” and has aggressively defended the word since.  Recently, Psion sent out cease and desist letters to stop sites from using the term, and Psion even convinced Google to remove netbook from its Ad Words advertising program.  But according to CrunchGear, Dell has issued a petition to cancel Psion’s trademark.

Dell is claiming that Psion has abandoned the Netbook trademark, because Psion does not currently offer laptop computers under the trademark.  Also, Dell states that Psion does not intend to resume use of the trademarked name.

Dell also cited “Genericness” of the netbook term, since many companies now make netbooks as well.  Psion is also accused of fraud, as Dell states that a senior product manager for Psion claimed they had been actively using the term for its notebook computers, even though that was not the case.

It’ll be interesting to see how this legal battle plays out, especially since Psion’s netbook has not been on sale for some years.  Also, since other companies have carefully avoided the netbook term, the outcome of the case may effect the names of future products.