AtariBrian Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 I sure hope this isn't the company that pacmanplus is programming a game for ? I would think he wouldn't be happy with their actions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Leave coleco go atari. Let him own a name only. Why give him the time of day? Some of those peeps were making Homebrew games for over 20 years now for the Coleco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 The good news is that we now have lawyers looking into this. Back soon for the final trademark analysis... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Pretty sure it is... PacManPlus is awesome and gets dragged into this.. ugh.. certainly not his fault but sucks to be associated with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Tarzilla Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Leave coleco go atari. Let him own a name only. Why give him the time of day? As seen above in the link in post #20, he thinks he can control every image or video that has the word coleco or colecovision on it, no matter what fair use rules there are, ignoring him cedes control that he is no entitled to. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 Pretty sure it is... PacManPlus is awesome and gets dragged into this.. ugh.. certainly not his fault but sucks to be associated with it. Unfortunate indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Can't everyone just ignore the clown since he doesn't really have all the rights anyways? Let him say what he wants... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 (edited) No you can't do that. Because it will let others get their way when it may not be their right. Because other "big name" sites will listen to the take-down notices. It be like killing individual ants - you have to hit the heart of the colony. You have to set a precedence. Edited May 19, 2017 by Keatah 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Pretty sure it is... PacManPlus is awesome and gets dragged into this.. ugh.. certainly not his fault but sucks to be associated with it. I think he should be made aware of this, if he hasn't been made already. AFAIK standup guy, does not seem like the type who would want to be associated with this, if thats the case (not sure which "Coleco" is which, all confused). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk269 Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Not to sound petty or anything like that, but i had put in a pre-order for Wave 4 SGM and will also be looking at getting some games to along with it. Will all this legal issues impact the Wave 4 and being able to buy games? I just don't feel spending $100 on the SGM and then discover that there will be issue buying games. Guess I am asking for some "peace of mind" on my pending pre-order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 (edited) Page 99-100 of this book explains that River West Brands is a company that buys up abandoned trademarks. They had filed for over 100 abandoned trademarks by 2008 when this book was published. It sounds like the owner may not really know about the technical aspects of the products, he just tries to make money by selling licenses to use the the names. From the Colecovision website, it looks like he is trying to get the Chameleon going again, unless the page is just a year and a half out of date. They claim they hold the Coleco and Colecovision trademarks, although this seems to be in part a bluff. https://books.google.com/books?id=PCby-SQKFEEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false I don't think RWB makes anything themselves, they just sell a license to use the name and have others make the products. It looks like he is trying to get everyone to stop using the name CV unless they buy a license to use the name. Maybe they saw how much money could be made from selling the license to AtGames for the CV Flashback. Edited May 20, 2017 by Swami 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 Well, it seems Coleco wants to talk. I will refrain from any further posting until I have heard what they have to say. Be assured I will fight for the community's best interest, not just my own. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 Not to sound petty or anything like that, but i had put in a pre-order for Wave 4 SGM and will also be looking at getting some games to along with it. Will all this legal issues impact the Wave 4 and being able to buy games? I just don't feel spending $100 on the SGM and then discover that there will be issue buying games. Guess I am asking for some "peace of mind" on my pending pre-order. No worries about that, that was took care of. We Opcode have our own platform, the Super Game Module, so we will keep releasing games for that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Be assured I will fight for the community's best interest, not just my own. You and me both! Thanks for sticking up for all of us! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk269 Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 No worries about that, that was took care of. We Opcode have our own platform, the Super Game Module, so we will keep releasing games for that. Thanks. I was not sure how this impacted the SGM and SGM games, so it is good to be re-assured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 (edited) Page 99-100 of this book explains that River West Brands is a company that buys up abandoned trademarks. They had filed for over 100 abandoned trademarks by 2008 when this book was published. The owner doesn't really know about the technical aspects of the products, he just tries to make money by selling licenses to use the the names. Is this really a company, or just some sad individual behind the curtain? Feels mostly like option b at the moment. Rather than actually do something meaningful in the world, some people would rather exploit loopholes for personal gain, and generally leave a legacy of just kind of being in the way. Are they proud of themselves? I wonder what they tell their kids that they do. Cardillo got off fairly light on the chameleon because nobody really looked too hard into him (as I recall). I'll give it that this is some new and inventive type of shyster-middleman-vulture. It's somebody with big dreams, but one who doesn't want to work for them, because deep down they know they can't. Sounds like he's the same as kennedy in a lot of ways. These events are proving entertaining. It's a new retrogaming lolcow. Edited May 20, 2017 by Reaperman 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Rather than actually do something meaningful in the world, some people would rather exploit loopholes for personal gain, and generally leave a legacy of just kind of being in the way. Are they proud of themselves? I wonder what they tell their kids that they do. People like this don't care about legacy or what others think of them. All they care about is being rich. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 You and me both! Thanks for sticking up for all of us! Not so sure about you Robb... come on, you make money out of child pornography and terrorism! Shame on you! Sorry, couldn't resist. Back to silent mode... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Not so sure about you Robb... come on, you make money out of child pornography and terrorism! Same on you! Sorry, couldn't resist. Back to silent mode... That was supposed to be our little secret!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 (edited) Is this really a company, or just some sad individual behind the curtain? Feels mostly like option b at the moment. Rather than actually do something meaningful in the world, some people would rather exploit loopholes for personal gain, and generally leave a legacy of just kind of being in the way. Are they proud of themselves? I wonder what they tell their kids that they do. Cardillo got off fairly light on the chameleon because nobody really looked too hard into him (as I recall). I'll give it that this is some new and inventive type of shyster-middleman-vulture. It's somebody with big dreams, but one who doesn't want to work for them, because deep down they know they can't. Sounds like he's the same as kennedy in a lot of ways. These events are proving entertaining. It's a new retrogaming lolcow. It reminds me of the opportunists who create and buy domain names similar to those of celebrities or companies so the person or company in the domain name will want to to buy it from them. Only in this case it is like the opportunists are trying to intimidate the celebrity or company to buy the domain name and the celebrity or company are are not making big bucks off of what they do, but are hobby enthusiasts scraping by to do what they love or even just fan-page owners spending money on their hobby to contribute to the gamer community. Edited May 20, 2017 by Swami 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the80sgamer Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 This is the same as those companies that buy up basically obsolete tech patents and then just search for other companies that they can claim violate their patent to try and force them into licensing the tech or paying a settlement. It's shady business and stinks to high hell. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StopDrop&Retro Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Hmmm... you have evidence of the ColecoVision trademark being dead but on the Coleco Flashback box they do seem to be asserting a trademark on it: Whether it's truly valid is another question entirely and I'm inclined to side with you guys, I think it was truly withdrawn at one point and I would hope that opened it up to the public. If only there was a way to force them to prove a chain of ownership for the ColecoVision name that would solve everything. But outside of a lawsuit I'm not aware of any way to compel them to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Surprised Toy R US is still kicking as they have a lot of debt and apparently are still struggling to make a profit https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/04/14/why-toys-r-us-is-still-struggling-even-as-the-wider-toy-industry-booms/?utm_term=.e0732f582886#comments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Such an unfortunate paradox: Those of us who like and remember and care about these old games have wasted out lives to the point that we lack the money and legal skills to pound this into dust... Those who moved on from 1982 games and have enough money to be captains of industry, who could just buy out these shitheels and give the rights freely to the community, have no interest in doing so. Anyone know a good lawyer/venture capitalist with money to spare and a little interest in retro games? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 People like this don't care about legacy or what others think of them. All they care about is being rich. In this case, how rich do they think they can get out enforcing the trademark (if they even have that....) given that is a niche market to begin with? If they are just going to alienate the fan pages, people making new games, new hardware, etc, they will just rebrand if they have to. For example, SGM games will still be available and made with our with out the CV logo, name, etc. Once Opcode has a chat with them, it will be interesting to hear out things turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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