#Several More Weeks Delay
32 messages in this thread
Hello Everyone —
I dislike being the bearer of more bad news in the midst of the
discussion on AW, but the liquidator has run into a significant problem. The
bankruptcy trustee of the German subsidiary has sold a key Commodore trademark
to Escom. The action was taken despite an impending restraining order from the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court. I went up to a Bankruptcy Court hearing yesterday and
it looks as though we have run into a situation which will cause several more
weeks of delay, at least. The U.S. judge has given the German liquidator a
couple of weeks to show why he shouldn't be held in contempt. Also, U.S.
lawyers for the Bahamian liquidator want to launch some "discovery" against the
Germans which could take more time. The liquidator had hoped to sell
Commodore's assets to Escom last week and then given everyone a chance to bid.
That whole process has been pushed backed and perhaps derailed. At least one
potential bidder said he wasn't interested if the trademark was not available
in Germany.
I vaguely remember a rumor that Escom was working on some sort of clone
technology.
The factual events are covered in a story in today's Philadelphia
Inquirer.
— Dan
Thanks for keeping us posted, Dan – even when it is NOT what we want to hear.
—Betty
Thank's Dan,
Bad news is still better than no news…
—Stephen—
===On AutoPilot 1.77–With Intel "All over my desk"===
Who or what is Escom? This is a new name to me.
Jerry
A German outfit that sold a lot of Amigas when there was a Comodore. I think
they are a chain of department stores with a large electronics section.
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
Thanks, Dale! Never heard of them.
Jerry
Dale,
>> a chain of department stores with a large electronics section.
not exactly. ESCOM actually sells computers (along with peripherals and some
software), mainly MS-Dos, marginally Apples. Besides that they offer only
cellular telephones at a minor degree. They are the #2 chain of computer stores
in Germany, behind Vobis.
Regards,
Joachim Sondermann-Bieker
on Amiga AutoPilot 1.77 from Cologne, Germany
Thanks for the correction. As I said, I had some vauge idea of what kind of
store, the important part is that they are a retailer.
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
Joachim,
JS> Escom is the #2 chain of computer stores in Germany, behind Vobis.
Escom is the #1 chain of computer stores in The Netherlands!
Bye
Vincent
AutoPilot all the way!
Did I read that Escom have bought Rumbelows of the UK this week (chain of
stores selling electrical products) and plans to turn them into the largest
dedicated PC chain ?? Or was it Vobis !!
Hi —
Dale has it about right. Escom was founded in 1983. According to the
latest information I have in front of me right now, they had 110 outlets in
Germany in 1994. They are kind of a German Radio Shack, It is a PC
manufacturer, also involved i nthe distribution and sale of peripherals and
software.
— Dan
Tnx 4 the info Dan. I hope we will c u this sunday in the conf.
— Moshe
Interesting. Wasn't even aware that they were involved in the bidding. Thanks
for the details, Dan.
Jerry
Escom is known to have hired some ex-C= Germany executives (long before its
fall), so the C= & Amiga names are well-known at Escom… I do not have any
names, but I could ask around from ex-C= France guys.
Fred.
Frederic Botton from Paris, France
fbotton@cix.compulink.co.uk
>discussion on AW, but the liquidator has run into a significant problem. The
>bankruptcy trustee of the German subsidiary has sold a key Commodore trademark
>to Escom. The action was taken despite an impending restraining order from
the
Very interesting…which trademark is it ("C=", "Commodore", "Amiga", etc…)?
> I vaguely remember a rumor that Escom was working on some sort of
clone >technology.
Very, very interesting… Escom is one of the mavericks who is now distributing
systems in Europe bundled with IBM's OS/2 WARP. This has been mentioned in the
Canopus forum, section "S6/The OS Wars", if you're looking for info.
–apl
The trademark is a combination of the word Commodore and the logo C=.
Dan-
Can we expect you this Sunday? It seems every time I show up, you're not
there. I hope I'm not a jinx. <g>
Mr. Zombie – Warped forever!
>The trademark is a combination of the word Commodore and the logo C=.
I don't see what the fuss is about. Let them have their Commodore logo. The
Amiga doesn't need it to be a product. It may even be liability it they did
use the C= logo <snicker>.
It's a big deal in Germany and the UK. Users there are proud to be Commodore
users and the name *is* a selling point there.
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
What's the big deal about the C= or Commodore trademark anyway? I would have
expected that
to be dropped anyway.
I guess they want to get all the money they can for anything they can. Can't
blame them on that account…
Marion Deland
CROSSINGS – Newsletter for Amiga/PC/Mac compatibility
Surprisingly, the Commodore "chicken-head" trade mark seems to have a good deal
of value. Commodore Canada licensed it to a third party to use in relabelling
clones; subsequently, modem cards not made or distributed by Commodore were
given the trade mark.
In those parts of the world where Commodore manufactured MS-DOS machines,
they seemed to have a reputation for making good quality stuff. Their price
was always up there around the Compaq level, and yet they moved a LOT of
merchandise.
–Jim
Well, I don't see where the word Commodore or the chicken lips logo should
cause anyone much concern. Most everyone in the industry knows Commodore
is dead and I don't think too many companies would even wanted to be
associated with them any more. So Escom can have it as far as I'm
concerned. Besides, I wouldn't buy anything from them knowing that they
are partly responsible for derailing the liquidation proceedings.
// John (Warp 4040 & Emplant Quadra 840)
\X/ Mercury@ins.infonet.net
While the chicken lips and Commodore don't mean much in North America, it is
still a valuable label in Germany, Central Europe and the U.K. Commodore is
also a widely recognized name in the old Communist Block. Don't matter much
here, but the name certainly has commerical value abroad, as I understand it.
I think the value of a name is stronger over there especially in the low-end
market where consumers might not be aware of a company's particular problems.
— Dan
While defunct company trademarks seem to be of little value to us, the
knowledgeable few, they do have value.
Packard Bell, and Emmerson, to name just two, went under years ago as the
Asian vendors captured the world market for radio/TV/stereo electronics.
Neither company is run by the orignal owners. However, the trademarks
were purchased for use by new concerns. C= may not seem of any value
today, but a few years from now, a whole new concern may start using it on
some product. It is easier to get name recognition with a name dimly
remembered from the past, than it is to start with a completely new name.
You are being somewhat provential (sp?).
The C= name may be worthless in the US, but Europeans don't have the same
negative connotations associated with it as we do.
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
Andy:
>> Escom is one of the mavericks who is now distributing systems in Europe
bundled with IBM's OS/2 WARP.
That's the name I was looking for earlier. I knew there was Vobis and another
"maverick." Now I remember…
Wayne
Actually, Escom has gone back to selling their machines with MS Windoze…
Vobis (#1 computer retailer in Germany) hasn't and therefore been punished by
being excluded from Windoze 95 beta site status by Microsloth. Vobis (maker of
"Highscreen" brand PCs) had attacked (I believe they're actually going before
court on this) MS's licensing practice, i.e. Vobis sells computers with IBM
OS/2 Warp 3 – no MS DOS or Windoze – and still has to pay DOS and Windoze
royalties for each machine sold to MS.
// Christian "ELP" Busse
\X/ near Frankfurt, Germany
BTW, The guy in charge at Escom is Helmut Jost who used to be in charge at
Commo Germany about 5 years ago.
This is the real connection !!!!
Richard
Just when you think they've run out of new twists to put into the
scenario, viola!
This is better than Johnny Cochoran's theories on who really killed Nicole
Simpson.
Looks like it may be a close race on which one gets settled first too.