Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
We have a new Commodore company, courtesy of retro enthusiast Christian Simpson and a team of notables. But there is already a company claiming to be Commodore…
Following news of the efforts Christian “Perifractic” Simpson and various others have gone to in order to revive the Commodore name (following a shock “buy it” offer), it was confirmed yesterday that the ink has dried on the deal.
Commodore returns, lead by Perifractic
In a social media post that highlighted the support of Leonard Tramiel, Bill Herd, Colin Proudfoot, Al “Father of the C64” Charpentier, Jeri Ellsworth, and Dave Haynie, Simpson marked the event with some typically portentous quotes.
But then, who could resist, given the importance of the deal?
Here’s the transcription:
We just made history. Together we’ve just signed the final contracts and paid in full, ahead of schedule to complete the acquisition of the whole of Commodore Corporation BV and all 47 original Commodore trademarks. The oldest dating back to 1983. And it all means that Commodore is finally in the hands of those who truly care, the community and the original employees.
And we did this for every one of you, for your parents, for whoever grew up with Commodore lighting up their imagination. And now the fun really begins. Commodore reboots, not just as a retro brand, with next-gen ideas, but as the digital detox brand, picking up right where we left off in the ’90s and therefore perfectly positioned to help free society from toxic tech and bring joy back to computing. ’90s and Y2K style.
Inevitably, more information will be shared on Perifractic’s Retro Recipes YouTube channel.
All of this is, of course, great news. Digital detox is such a strong angle, that I would not be surprised to see it being embraced, as long as the products are right.
…But Commodore Industries S.r.l. are not happy
Unfortunately, there is something to overshadow this news. In a blog post dated July 23rd (Amiga Day, in case you didn’t realise), the President of Commodore Industries S.r.l., Luigi Simonetti, published this statement on the Commodore.inc website.
The key portions are quoted here, kicking off with the fact the Italian Commodore has been around for 7 years:
…in recent days, there has been a lot of talk, perhaps too much, about the “reborn” Commodore brand. Some statements, made public and, in our opinion, inappropriate, have only served to create total confusion within the community, fuel controversy and call into question the work of those who, for over seven years now, have been legitimately using the brand in compliance with both current laws and market rules.
Lots of Commodore trademarks no one has ever heard of:
The company ‘Commodore Industries S.r.l.’, through the undersigned administrator, is the legitimate owner of the historic and original trademark ‘C= Flag COMMODORE’, as well as the trademarks ‘COMMODORE ENGINEERING’, ‘COMMODORE SINAPSY’, ‘COMMODORE ACADEMY’ and ‘COMMODORE DIGITAL’, which were further developed during the course of the company’s activities, both nationally (Italy) and at European level. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that, as of the date of publication of this press release, all the registrations mentioned have already been legally validated and certified by the competent bodies/authorities (UIBM for Italy and EUIPO for Europe), with the possibility for Commodore Industries S.r.l., where requested and justified, to provide proof of continuous use of the same over the last seven years. Finally, it should be noted that the process of the above-mentioned registrations was completed without any opposition from third parties, at least on legal grounds, and that no contrary measure has ever been issued that could prevent their use.
This is an important point:
The above statement can be easily verified by third parties and the community, as national, European and international trademark databases are in the public domain.
There is also an attack on Simpson.
Mr. Christian Simpson (alias ‘Peri Fractic’) recently made statements on his YouTube channel, at different times, which were picked up by numerous media outlets and various newspapers, aimed at undermining our position, claiming to have ‘bought Commodore’ and describing our use of the trademark as ‘illegitimate’.
None of the initiatives launched in the United States give Mr Simpson the right and/or power to cancel or revoke our legitimate rights to the above trademarks.
We reject, and will continue to firmly oppose, any attempt at delegitimization, intimidation or unfounded claims aimed at elevating the position of certain individuals through that powerful tool known as “disinformation”.
This may seem like a bit of a long-winded response, but two things are immediately apparent:
- The company explains that it is the legitimate owner of several trademarks, including the original “C= Flag COMMODORE” trademark, which have been legally validated and certified by competent authorities in Italy and Europe.
- They have opted to accuse Simpson of “disinformation” rather than copyright breach.
This may or may be because the Italian operation is not confident of the status of the C= logo beyond the European Union.
What happens next?
The fact that the statement from Commodore Industries S.r.l didn’t stop the acquisition of Commodore Corporation BV in its tracks (or that they didn’t make a counter-offer) suggests that there is little the Italians can do about it.
In the meantime, let’s look forward to a world of digital detox, licensed retro consoles, merch, and a modern Commodore that can compete with Atari.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
