Archos is seeking European trademark protection on the term “Gbook,” and based on the word itself as well as the company’s current slate of products — and overall paucity of trademarks — we suspect that it may refer to an upcoming line of Chrome OS netbooks from the French manufacturer. Filed just before the turn of the calendar, the application contains a broad description of the goods and services covered (in French), although all signs point to some manner of computing device (not surprising, but it probably rules out a PMP). Notably, the description is very similar — though not identical — to the trademark filing for Archos’ Windows CE-powered Arnova netbook, especially with regards to those primary goods and services classes featuring computing and telecommunications.

The company currently offers a lineup of Android-powered home and internet tablets in a range of screen sizes, as well as a Windows 7 tablet, a multitude of PMPs, an e-reader, and a 13-inch Windows 7 laptop, the Archos 13 PC. Neither of its previous netbooks, the Windows XP-powered Archos 10 nor the more recent Archos Arnova, seems to have gotten a very warm public reception. Archos appears to have had more success with its Android-powered offerings, judging by the eight models it currently stocks with two- to ten-inch displays — suggesting that it would probably have some interest in a Google-powered netbook as well.

Besides the fact that a hypothetical Google-built netbook has sometimes been referred to in the press as a Gbook (and may have been trademarked as the “Speedbook”), Archos seems to have the brandings on all current product types pretty much locked in stone; an e-book reader is an obvious choice, for instance, but the company already has the Archos 70b. In general, Archos tends to use very generic product names, usually in the form of its own name followed by a number that connotes the screen size.

In fact, Gbook is only one of three trademarks Archos has filed for in Europe this year, along with Arnova and “Apps Lib,” and among only 15 European applications since the company sought protection for its own brand in 2002. In the US, the company has just eight trademarks all-time (and none for Gbook). Even in its home country of France, Archos (established in 1988, according to Wikipedia) has filed but 27 trademark applications since 1991. This leads us to believe that Gbook is being reserved for a special class of product.

Notably, Everex had a line of low-priced laptops under the gBook branding a few years back, and a company called Great Wall released an 11-inch, Windows 7 “GBook” tablet late last year. Archos once had a line of Gmini portable media players.

Chrome OS, a fast-booting, browser-based platform, has been confirmed by Google to ship on netbooks from Acer and Samsung this year, and is already available on a developer machine, the unbranded CR-48. Google reportedly wants to reserve Chrome for devices with keyboards, while Android will be a phone and tablet platform, which is why Gbook sounds like a good candidate for a small laptop. Speaking of phones, Archos had been planning to introduce a multimedia-centric, Android-powered handset, but apparently those plans were axed because of a lack of carrier interest.

Seeing as CES is right around the corner and Archos is a confirmed attendee, it would be nice if this whole story came together in the next week or so, but with a vague target of “mid-2011″ for the first Chrome OS netbook rollout, we wouldn’t hold our breath for more info here. Unless, that is, the Gbook (or Gbook line) is something totally different, in which case a CES debut is most certainly in the cards.

Image: Netbook News