Qualcomm in legal trouble over "Smartbook" name
updated 05:20 pm EDT, Tue September 1, 2009
Qualcomm sales restrained
Qualcomm can no longer sell products that carry the "smartbook" name in Germany, as Smartbook AG has filed a restraining order against Qualcomm, Digitimes said on Tuesday. If Qualcomm fails to comply, it faces an equivalent fine of nearly $358,000 or an arrest for contempt. Smartbook AG CEO Dirk Pick says Qualcomm's German website, which divert users to the US page, are blocked to Internet users with German IP addresses.
Qualcomm is hoping to create a new product category with its "smartbook"-badged computers, a mix between a smartphone and a netbook, much like netbooks themselves. Smartbook AG is claiming to own the copyright to the name "smartbook," however.
In a similar vein, Psion has been involved with Intel in a lawsuit over the use of the term "netbook" to describe very small, cheap notebook PCs, though the two have since settled the matter.
