Why Apple is trademarking Thunderbolt and why Sony might be left out

Thunderbolt (formerly known as Light Peak) may have been developed by Intel, but it's Apple that's been snatching up all the trademark glory. The company first filed in November of 2010 in Jamaica, then followed up in February of this year by securing the rights to the name in Canada, before registering similar claims in Europe, China, and now the US. This raised some interesting questions about Intel's claim to be the exclusive trademark holder (see the more coverage link) and whether or not other companies would be able to use the Thunderbolt brand. Intrigued, we did a little digging and you'll find what we uncovered after the break.

We spoke to Intel, and it turns out that as part of its collaboration on Thunderbolt Apple filed the initial trademark requests before transferring them to Chipzilla. So, there are no worries about this being a Cupertino exclusive on branding. The connector will be known as Thunderbolt across all platforms provided it meets some basic requirements. As Intel's Dave Salvator told us, "a Thunderbolt implementation needs to use the controller chip, and the Thunderbolt connector." That means if Sony is in fact using a USB port, instead of the Mini DisplayPort-like jack found on MacBook Pros, then it will have to find another name for its high-speed peripheral interface. That's not to say it couldn't made compatible with a simple adapter, after all it's just PCI Express in cable form. But, whatever it looks like, it couldn't be called Thunderbolt.

While Thunderbolt requires a chipset that is, for now, built exclusively by Intel, there is nothing preventing other motherboard manufacturers from integrating it into their products. That's good news, especially for AMD fans afraid they were going to be left out. In the future the Santa Clara-based company may bring others into the fold should market demand exceed their manufacturing capabilities.

For now there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to worry about Android-style fragmentation of the Thunderbolt platform. In fact, Intel expects to seen the brand in "many places in early 2012," but there does seem to be room for others to muddy the standard. Meanwhile, USB 3.0 just keeps marching its unified front towards peripheral dominance...
MacRumors, Patently Apple (1), (2), (3)

Sony's Thunderbolt implementation hiding in plain (web)site, uses USB connector not Mini DisplayPort?

Look closely at that picture. See that Type-A USB jack? The one with the blue stripe sandwiched between the round AC jack (with its green light) and VGA and HDMI ports? Yeah, that's Sony's Thunderbolt implementation according to a trusted source. A bit of digging reveals that the "Ultimate Mobile PC" teased by Sony above is actually the same VAIO Hybrid PC leaked by Sony Insider back in March said to feature an external dock with one USB 3.0 jack, HDMI, Ethernet, AMD Whistler discrete graphics, and a Blu-ray Disc writer. Naturally, the dock attaches to the VAIO's Thunderbolt jack.

What we're trying to get our heads around, however, is Sony's choice for a USB connector instead of the Mini DisplayPort used by Apple's dual-channel 10Gbps Thunderbolt implementation. The decision to go USB was first brought to our attention by site Gula Digital. We've long known that Sony would be a Light Peak partner in some capacity. And the decision to go USB certainly echoes those first prototype interconnects demonstrated by Intel that combined a hybrid USB 3.0 connector with an optical interface and electrical connection to carry power. We also like the idea of being able to connect a USB 3.0 hard disk without first attaching an adapter. What troubles us, though, is a statement made by the USB Implementers Forum last summer expressing reservations with Intel's proposed interconnect:

"USB connectors are not general purpose connectors and are not designed to be used in support of other technology applications or standards or as combo connectors."

Perhaps Sony has worked out a licensing arrangement with the USB-IF? We don't know. But we're told that Sony's Thunderbolt implementation is definitely using a USB connector and definitely not using Mini DisplayPort. But we'll wait until this thing ships before complaining about Thunderbolt fragmentation too loudly.

Gula Digital