Terms of engagement
Regular readers will be aware that chip maker Qualcomm has been using the generic term ‘smartbook'* to describe mini-notebooks running on its Snapdragon SoC for some time. As these products are positioned as being the hybrid of a smartphone and a notebook, smartbook is the intuitive and obvious term to describe them (or notephone, we suppose. Quick, call the trademark office!)
The thing that is expected to differentiate these smartbooks from the other generic term used to describe mini-notebooks - ‘netbook' - is that they run on SoCs based around ARM's instruction set, as opposed to Intel's x86. We are told that this not only will make them more energy efficient, but facilitate the inclusion of mobile connectivity.
Hence other companies that make SoCs based on the ARM instruction set - like NVIDIA and Freescale - have also taken to using the term smartbook to describe this category, as have OEMs like Lenovo, when they have launched such products.
There's just one problem, however, a German company called Smartbook AG is already producing mini-notebooks called Smartbooks and it objects to the term being used to describe mini-notebooks other than its own. It has already obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) in Germany against Qualcomm, which the chip giant is complying with, while at the same time taking steps to cancel the trademark, contending it's a descriptive and generic term.
On one level this case is very reminiscent of the one involving Psion and the netbook term a year ago. Psion had produced products called netbooks and sued Intel - which had coined the generic term netbooks - for damaging its trademark. This case was eventually resolved out of court and Psion withdrew its trademark assertions for netbook.
