More news about the Psion lawsuit and Intel's counter suit today.  The last I heard, Intel was claiming that Psion had not used the Netbook trademark since 2003, when it gave up on its own device with an oh-so-similar form factor and niche.

However, the story linked above states:

In the filing, Psion lists retail sales (in dollars) of laptop computers "under Psion's NETBOOK mark" in the U.S. from 1999 to the present. For example, in 2005 Psion cites sales of netbooks at $1,709,433, in 2006 sales were $2,073,207, and in 2007, Psion says retail sales were $586,680.

I'm thinking that Intel and Psion are going to end up settling on this one. I don't think that Psion has an especially strong case, and the whole thing smells to me like an attempt to cash in on a trend the company failed to get off the ground itself. However, Intel's claim that the Netbook trademark was abandoned may be weakened if the court finds in favor of Psion on this point.

 

According to Gartner, PC sales are on the decline, and netbook sales on the rise:

Gartner pins a significant part of the shift to netbooks; although they won't prevent an overall PC industy decline, they should account for about 8 percent of shipments during the year and are likely to become more affordable in the year as well. A typical model of one of the mini notebooks with a 8.9-inch display, a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home that sells for $450 today should cost about $400 by year's end. Many of these systems continue to sell to users in established areas that are buying a second or third PC, but Gartner also sees price drops contributing to more people in developing-world areas buying netbooks.


Read more here and here.