Article 70283 of comp.sys.amiga.misc: Path: news.PEAK.ORG!engr.orst.edu!osshe.edu!news.uoregon.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!newsfeed.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!medadmin05.med.upenn.edu!user From: brownl@pobox.upenn.edu (Lauren Brown) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Report from Phila. Inquirer Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.misc Date: Thu, 09 Mar 1995 18:40:44 -0500 Organization: University of Pennsylvania Medical Center Lines: 77 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: medadmin05.med.upenn.edu Okay, Jason, here it is: GERMAN DEAL IMPERILS A SALE OF COMMODORE By Dan Stets Inquirer Staff Writer New York - The bankruptcy trustee of Commodore International's German subsidiary has independently sold off a key company trademark, potentially undermining efforts to sell all of the company's assets and get Commodore computers back into production. Trustee Bernard Hembach of Frankfurt sold the Commodore logo to Escom Aktiengessellschaft, a German computer company, last month for $1.4 million in apparent defiance of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, which tried to block the sale with a temporary restraining order. The action is another setback to efforts by liquidators of Commodore's parent corporation and the company's American creditors to resolve the complex liquidation. Sale of the company's technology will be delayed at least for several more weeks, postponing any restart of production of Commodore's Amiga and other computer products. Frank Wilson, one of two Bahamian liquidators responsible for selling the assets of Commodore's parent company, is afraid that the German sale might make it impossible to sell the company's technology to another buyer. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James L. Garrity Jr. conducted a hearing here yesterday on whether Hembach and Commodore's Germany subsidiary, Commodore Bueromaschinen GmbH, should be held in civil contempt for selling the logo. Garrity postponed a decision until March 20 to give Hembach time to reply to allegations brought by Wilson's attorneys, who say Hembach rushed the sale to duck a pending restraining order. The judge is weighing whether to fine Hembach and the Germany subsidiary $5,000 each per day until the sale to Escom is reversed. Under the proposed order before the judge, Commodore's parent company would get the money. Hembach says the American court had no jurisdiction to block the sale, arguing that the logo was owned by the subsidiary, not the parent company. Hembach sold to Escom a logo that includes the word Commodore and the "C=:" trademark. Wilson says all trademarks belonged to the parent company. Commodore International filed for voluntary liquidation in the Bahamas in May. The company was based in the Bahamas and had its North American headquarters in West Chester. Hembach sold the Commodore trademark to Escom on Feb. 16, the same day Garrity issued a temporary restraining order against the sale. Wilson's attorneys say they notified Hembach on Feb. 15 that a motion for the restraining order had been filed in the New York court. According to Wilson, Hembach and Escom executives worked all through the night of Feb. 15 to conclude the sale by the morning of Feb. 16. Wilson did not learn of the sale until March 1, when he met in New York with Escom representatives to discuss sale of all Commodore assets to the company, which is one of three active suitors for Commodore's remains. Wilson had hoped to complete a tentative sale of Commodore's technology to Escom last week and then allow others to try to outbid the company at an auction expected to take place in a few weeks. However, Wilson now contends that at least one potential bidder said he would drop out if the Commodore trademark in Germany was not up for sale. Germany accounted for 32 percent of Commodore's sales in 1992. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lauren Brown Commodore class of '93 Article 70386 of comp.sys.amiga.misc: Path: news.PEAK.ORG!engr.orst.edu!reuter.cse.ogi.edu!uwm.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news2.near.net!news.delphi.com!usenet From: John Scotto Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: Report from Phila. Inquirer Date: Sat, 11 Mar 95 19:04:12 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) Lines: 84 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: bos1b.delphi.com X-To: Lauren Brown OK, Jason, heres a little more fat for the fire: Item # 82 Posted By: Nathan Clark Subject: Sad News.. Sent To: All Date : Thu 9 Mar 95 19:39 Just got this news.... --Quote Begin Stets 74777,1572 To: All 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 fom 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 deraied. 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 --Quote End Also, for anyone who didn't already know, Amiga World is no more... Nathan Clark lemming@netcom.com Item # 83 Posted By: Philip Shelburne Subject: More ami news Sent To: All Date : 10 Mar 95 23:02:17 #: 188393 S3/Hot News and Rumor 10-Mar-95 15:46:55 Sb: #Escom Buys Commodore Fm: Dan Stets 74777,1572 To: All Well, the complex Commodore story gets a little more complicated. Escom agreed today to buy the remnants of Commodore from the Bahamian liquidators. They agreed to pay up to $6 million, in addition to the $1.4 million already paid for the German trademark to the liquidator in Germany. The liquidator now will try to schedule an auction at which others will have a chance to bid. CEI is still interested. I assume C=UK is as well. The key part of the new agreement is that the liquidator says that Escom agreed to surrrender the German trademark to any buyer who bids it at the auction. Without this part of the agreement, CEI and probably others would not be interested in bidding. Presumably, to outbid Escom, the bidders will have to throw in $1.4 million to repay Escom for the trademark, but I am not absolutely sure how this would work. The liquidator, meanwhile, is still going to go after the German liquidator for that cash. The Bahamians still say that the trademark really belonged to CEL rather than the German subsidiary. Hope that is clear to all. Any questions, just message. This thing shifted faster than I expected. The liquidator says that Escom backed off a bit because of the threat of legal action from New York. By backing off, I mean agreeing to surrender the trademark to a higher bidder. -- Dan D/L from Compuserve The second part seems to indicate that this is on balance good with the potential legal entanglements with ESCOM now not a problem. Can you confirm or deny? John Scotto Article 70389 of comp.sys.amiga.misc: Path: news.PEAK.ORG!engr.orst.edu!reuter.cse.ogi.edu!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news.sprintlink.net!uunet!in1.uu.net!xnet!jcompton From: jcompton@flood.xnet.com (Jason Compton) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: Report from Phila. Inquirer Date: 12 Mar 1995 00:58:31 GMT Organization: XNet - A Full Service Internet Provider - (708) 983-6064 Lines: 29 Message-ID: <3jtgvn$sq3@flood.xnet.com> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: monsoon.xnet.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] John Scotto (jscotto@delphi.com) wrote: : : The second part seems to indicate that this is on balance good with : the potential legal entanglements with ESCOM now not a problem. Can : you confirm or deny? My understanding of the events that just took place is that it's pretty much good in every way. We don't have to worry about legal action against Escom delaying the sale, since they've decided to back off (besides, they're virtually guaranteed to be able to license the C= trade name from whoever winds up winning the auction for less than the $6 M they bid for all of Commodore's assets) It was my understanding that it was Pleasance, not Amor, that threatened to pull out without a C= trademark as part of the deal. This is corroborated by an individual who has seen Pleasance's sales plan that calls for licensing the trademark, as well as by Amor who says he really could care less about the trademark (but, of course, wouldn't mind making money off it if the possibility exists, which it clearly does...) -- Jason Compton jcompton@xnet.com Editor-in-Chief, Amiga Report Magazine (708) 491-4064 FAX ...I will rearrange your scales ...if I can, and I can! AR on Aminet - docs/mags/ar???.lha AR Mailing list - Mail me AR on WWW - http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/~mjw/Amiga/News/AR/ Article 70413 of comp.sys.amiga.misc: Path: news.PEAK.ORG!engr.orst.edu!reuter.cse.ogi.edu!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!gt-news!prism!prism!not-for-mail From: gt1567b@prism.gatech.edu (Jeffery Carter May) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: Report from Phila. Inquirer Date: 12 Mar 1995 19:08:29 -0500 Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology Lines: 18 Sender: gt1567b@prism.gatech.edu Message-ID: <3k02dt$o9m@acmey.gatech.edu> References: <3jtgvn$sq3@flood.xnet.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: acmey.gatech.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Jason Compton (jcompton@flood.xnet.com) wrote: : It was my understanding that it was Pleasance, not Amor, that threatened : to pull out without a C= trademark as part of the deal. This is : corroborated by an individual who has seen Pleasance's sales plan that : calls for licensing the trademark, as well as by Amor who says he really : could care less about the trademark (but, of course, wouldn't mind making : money off it if the possibility exists, which it clearly does...) I'd have to go with Mr. Amor on that one. The Commodore name has been nothing but an albatross around the neck of the Amiga. I have had too many friends and acquaintences think of the Amiga as nothing but a passible game machine with no more evidence then the Commodore name attached to it. -- AA AA i Jeffery C. May ONLY A A A A President, Amiga Atlanta, Inc. Users' Group AMIGA AAAA AAAA i Senior EE, Georgia Institute of Technology MAKES IT A A A A i gt1567b@prism.gatech.edu POSSIBLE Article 70502 of comp.sys.amiga.misc: Path: news.PEAK.ORG!engr.orst.edu!reuter.cse.ogi.edu!uwm.edu!news.moneng.mei.com!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!uunet!xnet!jcompton From: jcompton@flood.xnet.com (Jason Compton) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: Report from Phila. Inquirer Date: 14 Mar 1995 16:35:22 GMT Organization: XNet - A Full Service Internet Provider - (708) 983-6064 Lines: 39 Message-ID: <3k4gka$1qr@flood.xnet.com> References: <3jtgvn$sq3@flood.xnet.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: monsoon.xnet.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Philip McDunnough (phillip@utstat.toronto.edu) wrote: : In article <3jtgvn$sq3@flood.xnet.com> jcompton@flood.xnet.com (Jason Compton) writes: : going on? Is there now an upper bound on the sale of the Amiga? No, there's a lower bound of $6 million. : >We don't have to worry about legal action against Escom delaying the : >sale, since they've decided to back off (besides, they're virtually : >guaranteed to be able to license the C= trade name from whoever winds up : >winning the auction for less than the $6 M they bid for all of : >Commodore's assets) : Is this fact or wishful thinking? Reasonable inference. After all, the German liquidator was more than happy to sell it off for $1.4 M. What's The Winner to do, turn around and say it's worth $10M? : >It was my understanding that it was Pleasance, not Amor, that threatened : >to pull out without a C= trademark as part of the deal. This is : >corroborated by an individual who has seen Pleasance's sales plan that : >calls for licensing the trademark, as well as by Amor who says he really : >could care less about the trademark (but, of course, wouldn't mind making : >money off it if the possibility exists, which it clearly does...) : This sounds like hearsay. No, it's again, reasonable inference. I can eliminate Amor as the party who indicated he would pull out. On the same day that the information came out that a bidder would pull out if the C= trademark situation was not resolved, I was told how important the trademark is to Pleasance. -- Jason Compton jcompton@xnet.com Editor-in-Chief, Amiga Report Magazine (708) 491-4064 FAX ...I am smitten... And the lamb lies down... AR on Aminet - docs/mags/ar???.lha AR Mailing list - Mail me AR on WWW - http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/~mjw/Amiga/News/AR/ Article 70529 of comp.sys.amiga.misc: Path: news.PEAK.ORG!gaia.ucs.orst.edu!wsrcc.com!wetware!olivea!hookup!news.mathworks.com!news.duke.edu!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!news.Gsu.EDU!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!news.IT.net!news From: pint001@pn.itnet.it (Ivan Pintori) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: Report from Phila. Inquirer Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 00:21:36 CET(+1 GMT) Organization: MangaZone Advanced Services - Virtuality for the Amiga and PC Lines: 25 Message-ID: <19950314.3C1DC0.BFF@pn.itnet.it> References: <3jtgvn$sq3@flood.xnet.com> <3k02dt$o9m@acmey.gatech.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: pint001.pn.itnet.it Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-NewsSoftware: GRn 2.1 Feb 19, 1994 In article <3k02dt$o9m@acmey.gatech.edu> gt1567b@prism.gatech.edu (Jeffery Carter May) writes: > I'd have to go with Mr. Amor on that one. The Commodore name has been nothing > but an albatross around the neck of the Amiga. I have had too many friends > and acquaintences think of the Amiga as nothing but a passible game machine > with no more evidence then the Commodore name attached to it. But what if you could licence the C= trademark? You see, not everywhere C= is seen as a bad mark. In germany, for example, C= is a well respected trademark. I mean, as far as I know there should be even showers with the C= trademark licensed! 8^) Meaning of the Story: Pleasence wants to get the whole deal for X, so that he can licence the trademark for Y and get some money back straight away! Not stupid at all! > AA AA i Jeffery C. May ONLY -- Ivan Pintori | Tel: ++39-6-50281316| Fido: 2:335/326.21 MangaZone Adv. Services | Fax: ++39-6-5020016 | UUCP: ivan@mascnr.adsp.sub.org Interactive TV Development Site for GeNeMM | Internet: pint001@pn.itnet.it Disclaimer: I speak for my own and not for my company.