Amiga Inc sues Hyperion VOF for trademark infringement

[benJamin]

 :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:

Clicking that button didn't help, but I didn't want to stop, either.

What is the point of trying to bend over Hyperion when all it will do is severely reduce the number of possible customers for themselves?

I cannot believe this!  And I've stayed pretty neutral on the whole issue until now, but the efforts Hyperion and their subcontractors have gone to, a lot off their own bats, was about to bear fruit and now it's on for young and old and noone is going to get payed.

There is a countersuit in their somewhere, but I suspect it depends where the subcontractor's loyalties lie (whether or not they've been paid off by Amiga or if they will run the gauntlet for Hyperion).

I can only hope Amiga have to pay Hyperion and their sub.s for the work done, and not the other way around as appears to be the attempt here.


jaminI'mSoF***ingAngryI'mNotGoingToSleepTonightJay
"Bankrupt me once, shame on you.
 Bankrupt me forty-two or more times, shame on me."

PS: :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:

[benJamin]

I noticed a distinct lack of dates on evidence relating to payments, etc.  These invoices do not look sensible and definitely do not look like any international funds transfer or bank cheque I've ever had drawn.  And what's with the scribble on that hurried fax?

I think I'm going to have to fold and ask to join the popcorn crowd...

Edit: And no signatures on one of the so-called agreements.  How can you submit, as evidence, an unsigned document?  Huh?  How?!


jaminJay
"You've killed the Inc.."

[benJamin]

@Glittering:

You give me the suspicious feeling of deja-vu...


jaminJay
"It's like deja-vu all over again!" - Yogi Bear

[benJamin]

Without meaning to sound like a Hyperion apologist, it is very clear that they conduct themselves in a very professional manner with their corporate image.

It appears that Amiga Inc. are intending to look like the poor, hard-done-by, run-into-the-ground IT start-up who have been bludgeoned unfairly by a classier company.  They are trying to look like the underdog who have tried very hard to 'do the right thing'.  The whole website appears to be a well-orchestrated set-up.  Hooray for the Wayback Machine!

Ahem.

Not to mention that both companies expressed financial difficulties during 2001 and Hyperion are well known to have taken on external contracts to supplement income in order to continue working on the OS4 project when Amiga Inc. looked to be going under.  I really hope some communique will be disclosed showing acknowledgement of these instances in Hyperion's case.

Off to read more of Piru's discoveries and awaiting the next batch there is sure to be.  I hope that in Fleecy's statement I see actual bank transfer receipts, unlike the 'directive to pay' notes in Bill's statement, which don't appear to prove anything at all.


jaminJay
"This is becoming as much fun as /.'s coverage of any RIAA lawsuit!"

[benJamin]

"To get that content, Amiga was relying on the Amiga developers.  The Amiga developers, in turn, were relying on having OS 4.2 with DE on it because they only want to develop using new Amiga computers."

Okay.  So, there were a limited amount of machines that don't exist with OS4 and OS4 SDKs out there.  Amiga Inc. surely had at least one of these motherboards running OS4 and had access to the SDK from Hyperion.  The OS as released in the developer pre-release must have been enough to develop the DE SDK for it, otherwise there would have to be a variation in the contract for Hyperion to develop the missing functionality, yes?

And where were these new Amiga computers?  The A1s that weren't authorised to exist from the company who bailed Amiga Inc. out got discontinued due to Amiga's inaction.  Those that did exist are still running an ever-improving OS4 which still DOES NOT HAVE A DE SDK on it.

You CANNOT blame the 'lack' of DE SDK sales on a lack of OS4.  The DE SDK, like DE itself, is designed to work on multiple architectures.  Why hasn't the mobile phone industry gone bankrupt?  Surely their multimedia content is produced by ex-Amiga enthusiasts (or the companies that bought ex-Amiga talent to port ex-Amiga games to the Java platform).

I will continue reading the document, but Amiga Inc. cannot seriously believe, even though they assert, that their DE business failed because of a third party whose hands they appear to have quite erroneously tied, can they?  They had EVERY opportunity to develop and release the DE SDK for the OS4 platform, which would have solidified commitment from hardware manufacturers to produce mainstream computing systems for said environment.

Also, they stated in no uncertain terms after buying Gateway's assets that they are a SOFTWARE company.  They seem to want to appear to be a hardware company again...


jaminJay
"I'll read into this whatever it appears to be saying."

[benJamin]

Prior to the announcement of the Amiga Centre at Kent, any jury hearing the case would have come to the following conclusion:

"The jury finds that, in the case of trademark infringement, the Omega name is not well known, much less known for software of any level of quality."

This is a well-orchestrated set-up.

QED


jaminJay
"Possessions are fleeting." - Homer J. Simpson

[benJamin]

After all that reading, I can honestly say (and IANAJ) that the case presented on behalf of Amiga has a number of subtle self-referential conflicts which will be difficult to explain.

Don't get me wrong, I want Amiga, Hyperion and ACube to release, in unison, their products for the benefit of each other and the customers that Amiga have strived to assert representation of.  Well, at least their American customers.

And as my last comment (until Hyperion's response is published) before resuming normal, non-legal-battle related forum interaction follows:

If those legal documents were written under Wiki conventions, they would be marked "This article needs clean up" and "This article's style is not that of a legal document".   :lol:

I await the response.


jaminJay
"Learning is fun!" - Bender Bending Rodriguez