Lenovo launches litigation, forces Framework to redesign motherboard case that can be 3D printed

If you bought an original Framework laptop and want to upgrade its motherboard to a newer version to get the extra performance of a 12th Gen Core processor, the company doesn’t want you to throw away your old motherboard. To this end, Framework has developed and released an open source design for a 3D printed motherboard case, making it easy to repurpose an old Framework motherboard into a makeshift mini desktop PC.

But Lenovo disagreed with the case’s design, according to a legal complaint posted yesterday on the Framework Twitter account. We are talking about the design of the power button of the case, pictured above, which looks like a circle or the letter “O”, divided into three parts by straight lines. Lenovo’s legal team believes this circle looks like the stylized “O”in the Lenovo Legion brand logo. And it makes sense, even if we don’t think people will confuse a gaming laptop from a major PC manufacturer for a cheap 3D printed plastic case for a niche laptop motherboard.

Luckily for Framework, the “broken O”that Lenovo is upset about doesn’t appear anywhere on the Framework laptop – it uses the company’s standard gear-shaped logo on the lid and keyboard, so Framework won’t need to make costly changes or reset any components. for which money has already been spent.

To solve this problem, the Framework is holding a contest for a new power button design. The CEO of the company, Nirav Patel, will choose his favorite design so that it can be included in a new case and published on GitHub. The winner of the competition will receive a version of the Framework motherboard for first generation notebooks with a Core i5-1135G7 processor. Just make sure the button design shown doesn’t look like a bitten apple, an alien’s head, or three snakes tied together.