That geek mystique

Not so long ago, the name ‘‘geek’’ was one to be avoided. But now the wearers of pocket protectors, flood pants, and thick glasses have acquired a certain geek mystique — so cool, in fact, that two companies are battling in federal court over who has the right to be called ‘‘geek.’’

The Geek Squad Inc. of Minneapolis, a unit of retailing giant Best Buy Co., recently filed suit in US District Court in Boston against Geek Housecalls Inc. of Lexington, charging trademark infringement. Both firms provide technical support for home computers. In its complaint, the older Minnesota company claims the Massachusetts company adopted a similar name to capitalize on its established reputation and business.

But Dave Ehlke, the founder of Geek Housecalls with 30 years in the technology, said he and his partner, Andy Trask, adopted the name for two reasons: ‘‘We’re geeks. And we make housecalls.’’

In many ways, the suit is an example of how deeply technology has become ingrained in American culture and how those derided over generations as poindexters, brainiacs, squares, and nerds have become its heroes. Robert Stephens, founder and chief inspector of the Geek Squad — the title ‘‘chief executive,’’ he said, just didn’t fit — blames society.

‘‘We’re still as uncool as we ever were. We still don’t go out much,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s non-geeks who made us important because they can’t live without their computers.’’

There might be one more reason that geeks have been embraced by the mainstream, Stephens said: ‘‘Bill Gates became the world’s richest man.’’

Money, of course, is what the lawsuit is about. Stephens, while declining to speak specifically about the case, said that the Geek Squad, founded 10 years ago, pioneered the market for home computer support and it has to protect itself from newcomers looking to cash in on this geek revival. Ehlke, who founded Geek Housecalls about three years ago, said the suit is a simple case of big company using its money and muscle to squeeze out a successful but smaller competitor. No trial date has been set.

‘‘Geek’’ has a long history in the English language, and, until the technological age, was the term applied to carnival performers whose talent consisted of biting off the heads of live chickens and snakes. It later became part of the technical lexicon, describing the technologically astute who just as voraciously ate computer bugs, said Brian Jepson, an editor at the technology book publisher O’Reilly Media Inc.

Jepson said he first noticed the term geek gaining positive connotations in 1993, with the introduction of the ‘‘geek code’’, a method used to compress data to speed up e-mail when modems were painfully slow.

Today, it’s a badge of honor, proudly worn by people and business alike. In addition to Jepson’s, O’Reilly is publishing other titles with ‘‘geek,’’ including ‘‘Home Hacking Projects for Geeks,’’ a manual for technically savvy do-it yourselfers, and ‘‘Just a Geek,’’ an autobiography of Wil Wheaton, who played the character Wesley Crusher in ‘‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’’ There’s a long list of other home computer support companies that use the term, too, including Virginia-based Geeks On Call.

Meanwhile, the Geek Boutique, which sells equipment as well as services, has been operating in Maynard for about five years. Richard Batchelder, the owner and ‘‘alpha geek,’’ and whose employees include ‘‘Jimmy the Geek’’ and the ‘‘Tweak Geek,’’ said he believes it would be difficult for Best Buy’s subsidiary to build a trademark infringement case around the word ‘‘geek.’’

‘‘It’s like trying to trademark the word, ‘buy,’ ’’ he said.

Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.