Pentium (brand)

The Pentium registered trademark is included in many brand names of Intel's single- and multi-core x86-compatible microprocessors [cite web |title=Microprocessor Quick Reference Guide |url=http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/quickreffam.htm |publisher=Intel |accessdate=2007-08-14] . It was first used in 1993 for the Pentium [cite web |title=Microprocessor Hall of Fame |url=http://www.intel.com/museum/online/hist%5Fmicro/hof/ |publisher=Intel |accessdate=2007-08-11] branded CPUs with Intel's fifth-generation "P5" microarchitecture (in Greek "penta" means 'five'). Subsequently, it was used in later generation CPU's "brands" (listed below) distinguished by suffixes such as "Pro", "II", "III", "4", "D". In 1998, Intel separated low-priced processors under the Celeron [cite web |title=Microprocessor Hall of Fame |url=http://www.intel.com/museum/online/hist%5Fmicro/hof/ |publisher=Intel |accessdate=2007-08-11] brand. With the 2006 introduction of the "upper" Core 2 brand, there was no plan to use the "Pentium" "trademark" anymore, but apparently, "Intel developed the Pentium Dual-Core at the request of laptop manufacturers" [ [http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/pcperipherals/0,39051168,61998152-8,00.htm Rec
] ] . So, the brand containing "Pentium" trademark lost its "upper" position and became "mainstream" between the "Core 2" and "Celeron" - in 2007 [cite news |title=Intel Readies Pentium E2000-Series Processors |url=http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20061115223825.html |last=Shilov |first=Anton |publisher=X-bit labs |accessdate=2007-08-15] and further on as the "Pentium" brand again [cite news |title=Intel to unify product naming scheme |url=http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33234/122/ |publisher=TG Daily |accessdate=2007-08-15] .

Brands with "Pentium" trademark

"Brands" of "CPUs" using the "Pentium" trademark:
* Pentium
* Pentium OverDrive
* Pentium Pro
* Pentium II, Pentium II Xeon
* Pentium III, Pentium III Xeon
* Pentium 4, Mobile Pentium 4, Mobile Pentium 4 M, Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
* Pentium M
* Pentium D, Pentium Extreme Edition
* Pentium Dual Core (limited to 2007 [cite news |title=Intel to unify product naming scheme |url=http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33234/122/ |publisher=TG Daily |accessdate=2007-08-15] )
* "Pentium" (2008 [cite news |title=Intel to unify product naming scheme |url=http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33234/122/ |publisher=TG Daily |accessdate=2007-08-15] )

Families of similar processors, but not using the "Pentium" trademark:
*Celeron
*Xeon

Origins of "Pentium" trademark

The original Pentium branded CPUs were expected to be named 586 or i586, to follow the naming convention of previous generations (286, i386, i486). However, Intel was unable to persuade the court of law to allow them to trademark numbers (such as "i486"), in order to prevent their competitors from branding their processors with similar names, as AMD had done with their Am486. (The "586" number was later used by AMD, Cyrix and NexGen in their respective 5k86, 5x86 and Nx586 CPU brand names).

Intel enlisted the help of Lexicon Branding to create a brand that could be trademarked. The name 'Pentium', was derived from the Greek "penta", meaning 'five', and the Latin ending "-ium" for neutral nouns. Because of this mix of language roots, the word could be considered a barbarism. [ [http://www.ece.iastate.edu/~morris/cs570/name.html Names of processors ] ] Failed verification|date=October 2007. The Pentium brand was very successful, and was and still is maintained through several generations of processors, from the Pentium Pro to the Pentium Extreme Edition and further. Although not used for marketing purposes, Pentium series processors are still given numerical product codes, starting with 80500 for the original Pentium chip.

Current use of the trademark

The Core, introduced in early 2006, was the first Intel mainstream brand for mobile CPUs which did not contain the "Pentium" trademark. It replaced the Pentium M brand. With the 2006 introduction of the "upper" Core 2 brand, there was no plan to use the "Pentium" "trademark" anymore, but apparently, "Intel developed the Pentium Dual-Core at the request of laptop manufacturers" [ [http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/pcperipherals/0,39051168,61998152-8,00.htm Rec
] ] . In 2007, the Pentium Dual-Core brand (of dual-core budget processors) revived the "Pentium" trademark [cite news |title=Intel Readies Pentium E2000-Series Processors |url=http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20061115223825.html |last=Shilov |first=Anton |publisher=X-bit labs |accessdate=2007-08-15] . So, the brand containing "Pentium" trademark lost its "upper" position and became "mainstream" between the "Core 2" and "Celeron". The "Pentium Dual-Core" brand referred to laptop CPUs previously branded as the "Core", and newer desktop ones with 1 MB of cache, which 2 MB-"cache" "cousins" were branded as the "Core 2". In 2008, the "Pentium" brand was to replace the "Pentium Dual-Core" [cite news |title=Intel to unify product naming scheme |url=http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33234/122/ |publisher=TG Daily |accessdate=2007-08-15] . However, this rebrand did not take place.

References and footnotes