The Dongle name in question

It would seem that the word we have all got used to for the mobile broadband device that plugs into the USB port of the computer could be wrong. It has been known as a mobile broadband dongle; however this name is something that could one day come into question as it belongs to someone else.

The parent company of Currys, DSG, owned a computer shop which was in fact called Dongle. The company actually trade marked the name and could if they really wanted to, make life very difficult for all of the mobile phone companies who have begun to use the word for their mobile broadband devices.

It would be very interesting to see what would happen if DSG decided that they wanted their name back, but more than likely the term will simply become the generic term for a mobile broadband device, especially as everyone has this term fixed in their heads now.

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