The Future of Intellivision-related intellectual property, rights, etc

[+Lathe26]

Big question: what will happen to all the Intellivision-related intellectual property if Intellivision Entertainment folds?

 

Originally, Intellivision Productions owned the rights to everything Intellivision.  Those later got split between BSR and IE, most going towards the latter.  If IE ends up on the chopping block, what do we think the most likely thing is going to happen?

 

1. A large corporation will buy up the rights (e.g., EA, Nintendo, etc).  Either games and remakes will get made or maybe the Intellivision goes into a vault, never to be seen again.
2. An IP troll with no real passion for the Intellivision buys it up.  Maybe makes some token efforts to profit from it but likely nothing happens.
3. Multiple groups buy up portions of the rights, splitting it up the Intellivision.  Some games will see frequent releases while other never do again.  Making multi-game cartridges for systems like the Evercade becomes difficult since it is hard to get the different groups to coordinate multiple groups.
4. Someone from the Intellivision community buys them up.  Seems less likely, but possible.
5. No one buys.  The rights lapse and eventually enter public domain.
6. Something else?

 

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer nor an expert in any way on intellectual property.  The above may be a gross misrepresentation of what can legally happen.

[crade]

Number 5 I don't think will/can happen.  My understanding is all assets get sold before the company can dissolve.. 

 

  They can go to auction if no one buys them but it seems like a company insider can also buy them at "the going market rate" without even making them available first which may be what happens since the going market rate for such things may be... malleable?  cough.. tommy..

 

I believe hypothetically if no would take them whatsoever, even as a throw away bundled in with other assets, then it would end up like abandonware where the official owner is can't be determined or contacted, so no one can legally use anything until they expire, but no one gets sued for illegally using them either..  But that wouldn't happen since there is no downside to taking them

Edited July 7, 2022 by crade
spellign

[+Gunoz]

Worst case scenario, would an IP troll be able to buy it up and make life miserable for any future projects (games, controllers, etc) by claiming infringement and trying to get paid?

[mr_me]

Regardless of what happens to the company, copyrights don't enter the public domain if they aren't used (at least not for a very, very long time).  If one day in the future the company dissolves, the copyrights can either be sold or they are divided among the shareholders.

 

Trademarks on the other hand can expire.  They don't go into the public domain.  If they go unused after a period of time they could be grabbed by anyone else.  They don't buy it, they can register it with a trademark office.

 

My understanding is that all the intellectual property was transferred to Intellivision Entertainment.  If Blue Sky Rangers Inc wants to do something with the classic games they can license it.  If that's not the case, what did they retain?

Edited July 7, 2022 by mr_me

[mr_me]

7 minutes ago, gunoz said:

Worst case scenario, would an IP troll be able to buy it up and make life miserable for any future projects (games, controllers, etc) by claiming infringement and trying to get paid?

Games and controllers don't infringe anyone's IP, unless the game contains existing code, music, graphics that belong to others.  Packaging can also infringe others trademarks and other properties, but that can be easily avoided.

Edited July 7, 2022 by mr_me

[Sinjinhawke]

CMART will buy all the IP and guard it like Burt Gummer.  Never to be seen again.  
 

Though I hope IE can pull it off.  

[wolfy62]

One thing good I hope happens would be M. Thompson being able to design and sell cool Intellivision shirts to us again through spreadshirt!?

[Rev]

On 7/7/2022 at 3:27 PM, mr_me said:

Regardless of what happens to the company, copyrights don't enter the public domain if they aren't used (at least not for a very, very long time).  If one day in the future the company dissolves, the copyrights can either be sold or they are divided among the shareholders.

 

Trademarks on the other hand can expire.  They don't go into the public domain.  If they go unused after a period of time they could be grabbed by anyone else.  They don't buy it, they can register it with a trademark office.

 

My understanding is that all the intellectual property was transferred to Intellivision Entertainment.  If Blue Sky Rangers Inc wants to do something with the classic games they can license it.  If that's not the case, what did they retain?

 

I think that is how it works, BSR can do Mattel Intellivision type game releases or maybe shirts?  Other than that, all new products go through intellivision Entertainment. 

[Flojomojo]

There were a bunch of new LLCs formed when Intellivision Entertainment started up, one was for old IP, one for hardware, one for new games. 

 

I agree that it doesn't just lapse and fall into public domain -- and if it did, it would get picked up by sharks like Dormitus and Piko and whoever picked up Stern and Exidy after abandonment. 

[Rev]

29 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

There were a bunch of new LLCs formed when Intellivision Entertainment started up, one was for old IP, one for hardware, one for new games. 

 

I agree that it doesn't just lapse and fall into public domain -- and if it did, it would get picked up by sharks like Dormitus and Piko and whoever picked up Stern and Exidy after abandonment. 

 

Collectorvision picked up some old IP...was it Exidy?

[Flojomojo]

23 minutes ago, Rev said:

Collectorvision picked up some old IP...was it Exidy?

That sounds right. No disparagement intended, but WHY?

[Rev]

Name recognition? 

[Zendocon]

I say we pool our money and make #4 a reality.

[Intymike]

1 hour ago, Rev said:

 

Collectorvision picked up some old IP...was it Exidy?

Exidy, Acclaim and I think a third one.

[mr_me]

5 hours ago, Rev said:

 

I think that is how it works, BSR can do Mattel Intellivision type game releases or maybe shirts?  Other than that, all new products go through intellivision Entertainment. 

They'd have to license the Intellivision games from IE.  That shouldn't be a problem since they know people over there.

 

4 hours ago, Rev said:

 

Collectorvision picked up some old IP...was it Exidy?

They registered an abandoned trademark.  They don't have any Exidy games.

 

Coleco Holdings also only has trademarks but owns no Colecovision games.

 

IE owns all the Intellivision games that Mattel and INTV created, they should also own the M-network Atari 2600 games.

 

4 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I agree that it doesn't just lapse and fall into public domain -- and if it did, it would get picked up by sharks like Dormitus and Piko and whoever picked up Stern and Exidy after abandonment. 

Dormitus' business model is based on abandoned trademarks for licensing.  Piko Interactive acquires game copyrights for publishing or re-releasing the games.

 

HR Kaufman the founder of Exidy continued to retain copyright on Exidy games.  He passed away in 2015, so those games likely transferred to his heirs.  The Stern family still has a business making pinball machines today.

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by mr_me

[Walter Ives]

On 7/7/2022 at 11:09 AM, Lathe26 said:

Big question: what will happen to all the Intellivision-related intellectual property if Intellivision Entertainment folds?

The copyrights will begin expiring soon enough: 45 years down, 50 to go.

[number6]

On 11/29/2022 at 12:20 PM, Rev said:

 

I think that is how it works, BSR can do Mattel Intellivision type game releases or maybe shirts?  Other than that, all new products go through intellivision Entertainment. 

...or Intellivision Productions, since Intellivision Entertainment LLC has been dissolved.

 

Dissolution Date 1 February 2022

 

Hmm...could also be in the new holding company I suppose. Perhaps Mr.Me has a better idea, since he follows things more closely than I.

 

Intellivision Holdings LLC

 

#6

Edited December 4, 2022 by number6

[mr_me]

Intellivision Productions is now Blue Sky Rangers Inc.  In general, if a company dissolves without selling certain assets, those assets become the property of the shareholders.

[number6]

26 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Intellivision Productions is now Blue Sky Rangers Inc.  In general, if a company dissolves without selling certain assets, those assets become the property of the shareholders.

A quick search on the new Delaware Corporation refers to the holding company I mentioned and linked to. So that's one thing learned on my part.

Source

 

#6

[number6]

@mr_me

 

I've taken some time to look at various filings here and go over the few reportings I found on the net. It's too involved to mention every nuance here, so this is just "my" bullet points and my opinions.

(1) There has been activity since talk about the LLCs arose in January. It is true you can "revive" these LLCs. Here is an example from an area I am more familiar with:

Illustrates compliance and therefore change in status

(2)Obviously professional help was employed here, so this is not a case of Intellivision making all decisions on their own.

Offered this link before, but now we look at more recent events upper right

CSC is temporarily made an officer. You can see the dates they were active. I should think this is the applicable reference for CSC:

Source

Finally the status of this particular LLC (Intellivision Entertainment LLC) changes to match that of the other LLCs outlined in the article from my prior posting. Again, this simply means it can be revived.

Likely any activity unexplained during the period of time CSC was involved resulted from their professional advice.

Things like this, protecting assets, trademarks, etc. all have their associated costs.

 

The opinion part:

It had been mentioned that not all refunds could be addressed immediately. Basically the indication was that certain monies would have to go towards necessary expenditures. I believe this is an example of a mandatory expenditure.

I offer no speculation as to success and I am well aware of prevailing opinion. I am -not- an expert in this field. But I will say it indicates an effort has been made, and the door remains open to revive the California side.

Hope this little bit helps in understanding.

 

#6

Edited December 4, 2022 by number6
the usual clarification

[number6]

Apologies if this is boring everyone, but one more thing...

 

The new Delaware Corporation:

Source

Again going to the upper right of the page for dates it shows the same CSC in January, 2022.

 

This would mean CSC has been involved in some way with IE from January until October of 2022.

 

Anyone with additions/corrections is certainly welcome to do so.

 

#6

[BSRSteve]

I think I can clarify a couple of things.....

 

Intellivision Productions, Inc, became Blue Sky Rangers, Inc, as part of the sale of the trademark to Intellivision Entertainment.

 

The Delaware corporation was formed because StartEngine required that the company be a C-Corporation rather than an LLC. The choice of Delaware was independent of that, but that is a popular state to incorporate in, for various reasons.

[number6]

On 12/4/2022 at 3:29 PM, BSRSteve said:

I think I can clarify a couple of things.....

 

Intellivision Productions, Inc, became Blue Sky Rangers, Inc, as part of the sale of the trademark to Intellivision Entertainment.

 

The Delaware corporation was formed because StartEngine required that the company be a C-Corporation rather than an LLC. The choice of Delaware was independent of that, but that is a popular state to incorporate in, for various reasons.

I believe this is on topic for those following:

Re: Astrosmash - Shark! Shark!

[Rev]

[Rev]

Intv is selling off game IP but retaining the right to use?   Is that correct?