Commodore Branded Kickstarter Gets Hit by IP Troll | Hacker News Reader

Commodore Branded Kickstarter Gets Hit by IP Troll

amigalove.com

25 pointserickhill13 comments

This "article" sucks. There are huge holes in the story. For example, it says:

"Barry Altman is ringing a tiny bell but you can't quite put your finger on it, he was the founder and CEO of Commodore USA from 2010 until his death in late 2012. He had founded Commodore USA after successfully acquiring the exclusive trademark rights to the Commodore name."

And then it quotes this Donohue saying, "After his death and the fall of CommodoreUSA I made some enquiries and managed to acquire [his] website, molds and some stock"

Nowhere in there does he claim to have acquired the trademark. Nor does the article address the obvious question: WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?

Trash.

Looks like it's here: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4802:11...

Those links aren't permalinks. I've included registration numbers below that you should be able to search for in TESS (http://tess2.uspto.gov/) (select registration number). Sorry, I'm not sure how to direct link to the record.

After a quick search, the best I could find are these two entries. They both have the same registrant (Polabe? and same attorney). There was another Commodore 64 (tm), but it was for 2D and 3D avatars, which seemed quite odd to me.

====

# 1251535

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer Systems and Their Structural Parts and Structural Fittings Thereof, [Calculators, ] (( Electronic Cash Registers )) [ ((and Electronic Thermostats, )) ]. FIRST USE: 19770600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19770600

(REGISTRANT) Commodore Electronics Limited CORPORATION BAHAMAS Sassoon House, P.O. Box N10256 Shirley & Victoria Nassau BAHAMAS

(LAST LISTED OWNER) POLABE HOLDING N.V. NAAMLOZE VENNOOTSCHAP (NV) ARUBA CAYA DR. J.E.M. ARENDS 18-A ORANJESTAD-WEST ARUBA

====

#6565032

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computers; Portable computers; computer keyboards, personal computers; computer hardware and peripheral devices; computer peripherals and parts thereof; downloadable computer game software; Downloadable video and computer game programs; computer joystick peripherals; computer memory devices; wireless computer mice; computer game cartridges and discs; recorded computer game programs; power adapters for computers; Downloadable video game software; Recorded video game software IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Computer software design; design, programming and maintenance of software for consumer video games; design of computer hardware for computer games; development of computer game software; development of computer hardware; development of computer software; development of computer software application solutions

(REGISTRANT) Polabe Holding N.V. naamloze vennootschap (nv) ARUBA Caya Dr. J.E.M. Arends 18-A Oranjestad-West ARUBA

Ah thanks for the info. I copied and pasted it in a new window before submitting and it had worked, guess the session didn't time out yet. Yeah those are the ones I thought matched as well.

Trademarks expire if not used. Registered trademarks have periodic renewal requirements with specific timelines. If I'm reading the article correctly, the last time the brand was used on a licensed product was 2012ish with the C64x; I don't think the My64 used the brand and I don't think it was licensed if it did?

They don't own the trademarks, there's a lot of interesting history [1] and it seems a company called Polabe Holding [2] does. The allegation seems to be that they acquired Commodore USA assets which included a license to use the trademarks [3], but the company they were licensed from did not actually own the trademarks [4] and lost a lawsuit over it.

I think this only scratches the surface, it seems like a delightful mess. It doesn't look like they have any rights to use the trademark, though.

1. https://www.nostalgianerd.com/commodore-heist/

2. Either purchased from or f/k/a C= Holdings. https://trademarks.justia.com/owners/polabe-holding-n-v-4321...

3. https://www.prlog.org/10884490-commodore-announces-exclusive...

4. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1415813/000101968714...

I think "IP Troll" is the wrong phrase. This seems like a totally normal trademark dispute, and there's nowhere near enough information given in the article to know who is in the right. If it went to court I'm sure it would be a very straightforward case...

Both sides in this dispute are wannabe brand necromancers who claim to own a name and a logo, but have no idea what to do with them from a standpoint of what that name meant to consumers back in the day. To be fair I don't care if this guy wins or loses his IP dispute. If I buy a "new Commodore 64" I don't want it to be just a bog-standard PC in a retro case.

THEC64 and the Mega65 took different, better approaches to marketing Commodore nostalgia, without access to the brand name. I get that THEC64 is just VICE in a fancy case. But both models offer a selection of C64 games in a convenient form factor with a convenient interface, like other retro mini consoles, and the option to run additional software (unlike other retro mini consoles that haven't been hacked/reflashed!). And the full-size THEC64 offers a genuine-layout C64 keyboard, making using it as a C64 convenient and relatively accurate.

The Mega65 is just pure facerock and I want one so badly.

I stared at this logo daily for a large bit of my childhood, and this is the first time I've heard it called the "Chicken Head." Mind blown.

super clickbait. "IP Troll"? They used the registered trademark of another company who is also selling retro PCs.

Imagine if I called my new phone series "Apple".

To a degree. The issue here is that the trademarked name of Commodore has had so many owners over the years, that no-one really knows who owns all the IP.

https://commodore.inc/ This is the company and I do not see them selling any retro PCs. They sell an Android tablet that is almost certaintly a chinese knock off and some "retro-inspired" games.

The issue isn't that they're competing for the same market. The issue is the use of the logo.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com