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Author Topic: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!  (Read 3057 times)

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Offline persiaTopic starter

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From Wikipedia:

Ownership of the Amiga line passed through several owners, from Escom of Germany in 1995, and then to U.S. PC clone maker Gateway in 1997, before being licensed an exclusive lifetime licence to Amiga, Inc., a Washington company founded by former Gateway employees Bill McEwen and Fleecy Moss in 2000. On March 15, 2004, Amiga, Inc. announced that on April 23, 2003 it had transferred its rights over past and future versions of the Amiga OS (but not over other intellectual property) to Itec, LLC, later acquired by KMOS, Inc., a Delaware company. On March 16, 2005, KMOS, Inc. announced that it had completed all registrations with the State of Delaware to change its corporate name to Amiga, Inc.
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Offline amigadave

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2008, 05:02:40 PM »
What is the difference between owning something and having an EXCLUSIVE lifetime license?
How are you helping the Amiga community? :)
 

Offline meega

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2008, 05:04:59 PM »
License might not be transferrable.  :-D
:)
 

Offline odin

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2008, 05:26:10 PM »
Huh? Acer is the same as Gateway these days? When did that happen?

Offline downix

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2008, 05:35:48 PM »
Quote

amigadave wrote:
What is the difference between owning something and having an EXCLUSIVE lifetime license?


Read the docs on the Novel/SCO lawsuit.
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Offline meega

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2008, 05:35:54 PM »
Quote

odin wrote:
Huh? Acer is the same as Gateway these days? When did that happen?

Recently.
:)
 

Offline persiaTopic starter

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2008, 06:28:50 PM »
If Acer does indeed own the IP, then it is Acer and not KMOS (Amiga Inc) that can file suit against IP infringement, since Acer is the injured party not Amiga Inc.

It does appear that Amiga Inc is another SCO and hopefully they will meet the same fate as SCO...
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Offline A6000

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2008, 07:15:23 PM »
What does lifetime mean in this context?
Is washington amiga dead or just in a coma?
I would not have thought an exclusive lifetime licence could be transfered, whether washington amiga was dead or not.
 

Offline persiaTopic starter

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2008, 07:33:11 PM »
So the Question is, does KMOS have any right to use Amiga IP, name or Trademarks?  Wouldn't it be funny if the net result of their running away from creditors was the loss of the use of the Amiga name and IP!?!?!


Quote

A6000 wrote:
What does lifetime mean in this context?
Is washington amiga dead or just in a coma?
I would not have thought an exclusive lifetime licence could be transfered, whether washington amiga was dead or not.
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Offline Colin_Camper

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2008, 08:08:49 PM »
It would be interesting to find out if the License could be revoked without compensation if the license holder used the name for criminal activities (Voucher scam etc etc) or to bring the name into disrepute (Kent, Bolton Peck, Scams, lies etc.)

Maybe the voucher people (myself included) should file claims against Acer?
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Offline pault1

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2008, 08:12:01 PM »
Quote
Wouldn't it be funny if the net result of their running away from creditors was the loss of the use of the Amiga name and IP!?!?!


Yup, although I'd say more like bad karma coming back to bite them than "funny".  :-) OTOH I won't actually be happy about either outcome until one or the other results in a hardware platform being sold with a supported OS....  
  :-?    Which unfortunately doesn't seem to be "Amiga" Washington's objective at all.  But it's the only way I find an excuse to spend more money on Amiga.
 

Offline dammy

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2008, 08:15:34 PM »
Quote
From Wikipedia:


That's the first issue right there.  From all what I remember, Acer never owned anything related to AI.  All the research over the years shows Gateway as the owner of the patents.  Amino got the hardware inventory, copyrights, trademarks, and license for hardware tech.

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Offline Zac67

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #12 on: January 07, 2008, 08:23:04 PM »
OK, and with Acer's acquisition of Gateway, it makes Acer the current owner of IP.  :-P
 

Offline HenryCase

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #13 on: January 07, 2008, 09:16:03 PM »
This is from an e-mail I was sent by someone who works for Acer, when I asked about the same issue:

"Having investigated this a bit more, it seems that Gateway sold the Amiga brand in 2000 which I’m guessing included the patent rights. I will try to get verification on this and update you ASAP."

That was from back in November, haven't heard anything since. Hope someone else gets a clearer answer.
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Offline alenppc

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Re: Acer own the Amiga Name and IP, KMOS only has a license to use it!
« Reply #14 on: January 08, 2008, 01:12:54 AM »
Yeah, the whole community should start spamming Acer asking them what their plans for revival are and what new hardware are they going to announce... :lol: like people did when Gateway bought Escom.
I would be curious to see what they come up with... :lol: