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YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

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Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#21

Post by latexr »

aeonik wrote: post #18
latexr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think you can have a public domain trademark; that doesn’t make sense with the concept. A trademark is specifically to identify the source of a product or service; if it were public domain and anyone could use it, its purpose would’ve been defeated.

I think it's a clever idea, an "open trademark". Independent certification that something fits a brand but anyone is allowed to use the brand if they pass certification. It would need a non-profit or government support though. Things like "Organic" already do that a bit, but it doesn't work too well over there.

> Independent certification that something fits a brand but anyone is allowed to use the brand if they pass certification.

But then it’s not public domain (which was the argument I was replying to). Public domain means everyone can do it without permission, while applying for a certification still requires a governing body which has the ultimate power.

> Things like "Organic" already do that a bit

That’s a classification, not a trademark.

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#22

Post by aleph_minus_one »

Lerc wrote: post #19
Bombthecat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Famous with old people. The new generation has no idea

There are people now that know what a Commodire 64 is but have never heard of an Amiga. The C64 made a cultural impression that lasts today. I'm not sure why but anongst those born after both machines had had their day, quite a few have an idea what the C64 was. Talking to the younger generation about the 8 bit era is wild. I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to someone and they expressed surprise at tha…

> There are people now that know what a Commodire 64 is but have never heard of an Amiga. The C64 made a cultural impression that lasts today.

I would claim that in my generation (people born after Commodore's heyday), those who are interested in retrocomputing topics (a minority) are similarly aware of the C64 and the Amiga and their cultural relevances.

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#23

Post by rwmj »

latexr wrote: post #20
rwmj wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trademarks can become genericized, which is a bit like them falling into the public domain. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark ) However I don't know if the owner of a trademark can legally make it generic.

> Trademarks can become genericized That’s not the same thing. Trademarks become generalised terms in the public’s mind , not legally. Two people in conversation might refer to a non-Xerox photocopier as a Xerox, but a non-Xerox photocopier company can’t just advertise their products as being Xerox. Additionally, from the wikipedia page you linked (emphasis mine): > A trademark thus popularized is at risk of being ch…

It becomes legal if the trademark owner can no longer defend the trademark. The difference is that here the trademark owner would somehow have to guarantee they would no longer defend the trademark. We're not worried about perifractic, but what about if he dies and someone more litigious inherits the mark? The issue if how to legally say "I will no longer defend this mark, and this will be forever."

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#24

Post by chuckadams »

sverhagen wrote: post #12
0xbadc0de5 wrote: post #8

I watched the video and support the effort. They seemed earnest and genuine in their desire to do right by the brand's legacy. However, I can't help but feel that releasing this information before the deal is in place is doing themselves a disservice. I can understand their excitement, but this could harm or derail any negotiation efforts. Business 101: don't count your chickens before they hatch.

In this case not chickens, but chickenheads.

[flagged]

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#25

Post by junon »

Lerc wrote: post #19
Bombthecat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Famous with old people. The new generation has no idea

There are people now that know what a Commodire 64 is but have never heard of an Amiga. The C64 made a cultural impression that lasts today. I'm not sure why but anongst those born after both machines had had their day, quite a few have an idea what the C64 was. Talking to the younger generation about the 8 bit era is wild. I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to someone and they expressed surprise at tha…

> I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to someone and they expressed surprise at that you could get a monitor that good back then.

Admittedly didn't register with me at first but this is hilarious.

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#26

Post by layer8 »

arexxbifs wrote: post #15

IMHO, what would give real value to retro enthusiasts is BSD licensing all the Commodore (and Amiga) IP, rather than these constant efforts to slap the chicken lips logo onto some random hardware in the hope of charging premium for an "official" product. Would any of the many replacement/emulation/FPGA efforts that already exist be better with a specific logo? More convenient? Cheaper? More successful? I have serious…

Context from the link: Editor's note: Commodore Corporation B.V. only owns the rights to the "Commodore" brand and the well-known "Chickenhead" logo. Software rights such as firmware ROMs or AmigaOS are owned by the Italian Mike Battilana or his Amiga Corporation, the same applies to various brands from the Amiga sector.

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#27

Post by kennyadam »

junon wrote: post #25
Lerc wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are people now that know what a Commodire 64 is but have never heard of an Amiga. The C64 made a cultural impression that lasts today. I'm not sure why but anongst those born after both machines had had their day, quite a few have an idea what the C64 was. Talking to the younger generation about the 8 bit era is wild. I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to someone and they expressed surprise at tha…

> I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to someone and they expressed surprise at that you could get a monitor that good back then. Admittedly didn't register with me at first but this is hilarious.

Seems like a made up interaction tbh. When would you just say “my trs80 had 4k” without specifics 4k of what unless the other person first said something like “my first computer only had 8MB of RAM” in which case they know from context you’re talking about memory, or you out of nowhere say “my trs80 had 4k” to someone and they have no idea what you’re talking about and ask if you mean the monitor.

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#28

Post by Lerc »

kennyadam wrote: post #27
junon wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to someone and they expressed surprise at that you could get a monitor that good back then. Admittedly didn't register with me at first but this is hilarious.

Seems like a made up interaction tbh. When would you just say “my trs80 had 4k” without specifics 4k of what unless the other person first said something like “my first computer only had 8MB of RAM” in which case they know from context you’re talking about memory, or you out of nowhere say “my trs80 had 4k” to someone and they have no idea what you’re talking about and ask if you mean the monitor.

I assure you it is not made up. Obviously it's not the literal words I used, I'm working from personal recall, not notes. It would have been part of a larger conversation I was having. From memory it was part of my answer to the question "how long have you been programming?"

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#29

Post by fortyseven »

kennyadam wrote: post #27
junon wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to someone and they expressed surprise at that you could get a monitor that good back then. Admittedly didn't register with me at first but this is hilarious.

Seems like a made up interaction tbh. When would you just say “my trs80 had 4k” without specifics 4k of what unless the other person first said something like “my first computer only had 8MB of RAM” in which case they know from context you’re talking about memory, or you out of nowhere say “my trs80 had 4k” to someone and they have no idea what you’re talking about and ask if you mean the monitor.

Oooh, book 'em Danno!

Re: YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore brand

#30

Post by gapan »

rwmj wrote: post #7
yummybear wrote: post #6

Well I couldn't think of a better steward for the brand than Perifractic

Maybe, but better if the trademarks were released to the public domain (however that could be achieved).

> Maybe, but better if the trademarks were released to the public domain (however that could be achieved).

How would that work? So anyone could release anything under the Commodore brand? That would be awful.

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