When you hear the word "netbook", what do you think of? Tiny, ultra-portable, low-power laptops, or a specific product line from one company? Like 99% of us, you probably associate it with the former. It turns out that way before it ever picked up its popular usage, the term was registered by the company Psion, which released Windows CE laptops under the "netBook" name in the early part of the decade. Now Psion is gearing up for a fight over ownership of the word.

The conflict started in December when Psion started sending out cease-and-desist letters to companies using the term to refer to their products and reporters using it when discussing the same. A group called Saved The Netbooks sprung up to combat Psion, and only a few days later has already declared itself victorious.

StN planned a two-prong attack at Psion, first targeting Google's ban on the use of "netbook" in promoting products with its AdWords system. Apparently, Google wanted no part of the legal threats Psion's been dishing out, so has been playing it safe and prohibiting the term. Shortly after making the request, explaining how the term had become generic, StN succeeded in having Google remove the ban, though only for StN's account, as Google was considering the exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

The next step, filing an application to cancel the trademark, was preempted when Dell beat StN to the punch. The netbook manufacturer argues in the petition that Psion has abandoned its products in the netBook line, hasn't been promoting them or doing anything to retain control over the trademark for years, and combined with the present, widespread meaning as a class of devices rather than specific products from Psion, the government should cancel trademark.

StN was so impressed with the soundness of Dell's arguments that it's now ceased its ongoing efforts to combat Psion, content to wait for the ruling to come back on the cancellation request. As a final act, it resubmitted its request to Google to permanently remove its AdWords ban, but this time for all users, citing Dell's filing as evidence of the inevitability of the trademark being ruled null and void. Though we might not be so quick to declare complete and utter victory, it certainly seems like Psion is in for a tough time if it plans on trying to defend its trademark.

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