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John McAfee Sues Intel To Use His Own Name (bloomberg.com)
Long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo quotes a report from Bloomberg: John McAfee, the creator of the eponymous antivirus computer software system, sued Intel Corp. for the right to use his name in new ventures after the chip maker bought his former company. Intel bought McAfee in 2010 and eventually renamed it "Intel Security." McAfee has since joined digital gaming company MGT Capital Investments Inc. as chairman and chief executive, with plans to rename the company "John McAfee Global Technologies Inc."
McAfee says Intel warned him that any use of his name will infringe on the company's trademarks that it acquired with the McAfee deal in 2010, according to his complaint filed Friday in Manhattan federal court.
Intel hopes to sell their antivirus unit for $3 billion, according to the article -- after acquiring it in 2011 for $7.7 billion.
McAfee says Intel warned him that any use of his name will infringe on the company's trademarks that it acquired with the McAfee deal in 2010, according to his complaint filed Friday in Manhattan federal court.
Intel hopes to sell their antivirus unit for $3 billion, according to the article -- after acquiring it in 2011 for $7.7 billion.
McAfee, Symantec, etc. All synonymous with bloated spyware.
They think putting his name on things is a good idea once again?
These trademarks have to be worthless now that it's common knowledge how much of a nutjob and attention whore John McAfee is. If anything, Intel should sue McAfee for making the trademarks worthless.
So in other words, he's a libertarian.
And you fail to understand what it means to be libertarian. Suing people is not contrary to the libertarian philosophy.
Cry me a river. He sold his name out, now he has to live with the consequences.
Same thing happened with Mark Levinson and his namesake company
We're going to build a wall around Silicon Valley and make them pay for it. When the big earthquake comes, they and their $5000/month studio apartments can all crumble into the sea.
Intel has fucked that division sideways. I just had a meeting with the intel security team, including their CTO and they are totally out of ideas and out of their depths. They have no vision for how to compete with the new companies nipping at their heels and are at least 5 years away from a viable product for the enterprise that isn't signature based.
Anyone that buys McAfee for 3.3 billion is out of their freaking minds.
Change your name to John Intelsucks, you'll soon get your rights back.
If you last name is McDonald, good luck with trying to use your last name in your company name.
Cry me a river. He sold his name out, now he has to live with the consequences.
Exactly. He chose his name as a "brand", he trademarked that name/brand, he sold that name/brand. He received large sums of money so others could exclusively use that name/brand.
If he wants that name/brand he can buy it, just like the people he sold it to.
Given what he's been doing over the past couple of decades, and given for what he was in the news a few years ago - a lot of people hear "John McAfee" and think of something other than software.
#DeleteChrome
Trademarks are not copy"rights". They are to protect against brand confusion. When one registers a trademark they do so for a particular category. I can registrar 'penguin' as a trademark for selling computers and another company with the same name can register 'penguin' as a trademark for selling ICE (http://www.icehouseamerica.com/images/home-feature2.jpg). There is no issue of confusion here. Apple is also a great example. Apple records and Apple computer. Until Apple started selling music nobody would have confused the two. This is where a company with a trademark could actually violate another companies trademark despite having the same name trademarked.
McAfee should not have a problem registering a trademark for his company under his name or with his name in it so long as it has nothing to do with anti-virus software.
Walter became growingly concerned with the direction Taylor was taking under the protection of New York law—protection that let wineries deceptively make their wine under a veil of secrecy. Wineries could add dozens of chemicals, concentrates, water, and “foreign” juice to their wines without informing the consumer on the label. Deep in the middle of the night, under a veil of secrecy, wineries would receive deliveries of juice from California in “Tank Cars” to add to their wines. They could even still call their bottle of wine a New York wine!
He spoke out, was eventually fired and started Bully Hill Vineyards. In 1977, Taylor Wine was bought out by Coca-Cola and they filed an injunction preventing Walter from using the name "Taylor" on any of his products or making any implications that he / Bully Hill was ever associated with Taylor Wine.
When I visited the winery in the 1980s, all the labels said "Walter S. [blacked out]" and featured a picture of the company mascot - a goat. Underneath it said, "They got my name, but they didn't get my goat."
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
If it's true that he's suing to get a court to invalidate a mutually-agreed voluntary private contact, then it sure is.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
They think putting his name on things is a good idea once again?
Seemed to work out under his watch. What came after his payout and departure isn't his fault.
In no way should the above be interpreted to suggest that McAfee is not a lunatic in my humble opinion. Maybe he's some type of software idiot savant?
Apple is also a great example. Apple records and Apple computer. Until Apple started selling music nobody would have confused the two.
Actually Apple is a very poor example, because Apple Corps and Apple Inc. have a long history of trademark litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
If you last name is McDonald, good luck with trying to use your last name in your company name.
Trademarks are specific to a type of business. In something completely unrelated the trademark does not apply and may be used. That said, McDonalds is involved in a lot of things besides food.
Go to the US patent and trademark website, search for McDonalds and see what trademark classes they fall under. Other classes are available for your business.
for 18 years.
source
I'm not privy to the specifics of the contract, are you?
All I see here and in TFA is that Intel said McAfee can't use his own name in a company name, not that he sold full rights to his name when he left the company.
For all we know he is going to court to get a declaratory ruling as to if he is able to do so or not, rather than change his new company name to what he wants and deal with a more expensive Intel suit.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
Intel is going to lose on this one, because of the Creedence Clearwater precedent, in which it was ruled that you cannot be accused of plagiarizing yourself:
http://mentalfloss.com/article...
He sold his name, now wants it back for free?
I don't get why Intel can even assert such a restriction. The US is messed up beyond belief.
Unless John McAfee wants to register a trademark in the security software or air purification categories
Ransom Eli Olds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company, later renamed Olds Motor Works. The company was bought out by GM in 1908. When Mr. Olds got back into the automotive business, he obviously couldn't use the "Olds" name for his product, which might cause confusion with GM's "Oldsmobile".
He use an acronym based on his initials for the truck company he set up. The product was called the "REO Speed Wagon" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
Intel sells security software called "McAfee." Since "antivirus software" and "investment house" are not synonymous terms, it is perfectly libertarian to defend your right to call your investment house "McAfee."
posting to remove wrong mod in above post, sorryhttps://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/09/04/1819241/john-mcafee-sues-intel-to-use-his-own-name#
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
Actually, he may have a case. Intel did rename MacAffee Security to Intel Security.
Intel still uses the McAfee brand, mcafee.com describes the Intel Security offerings. The Intel Security webpages include McAfee logs and the text "McAfee" in the description of various technologies, ex "McAfee Enterprise Security Manager".
Perhaps he's using it for free press, which, of course, we're glad to provide him.
Come on, Intel! You don't even use his name anymore and McAfee has said and done some very, very weird things that any sane company would want to distance themselves from.
13 Crazy Things Said by Antivirus Guru and Presidential Candidate John McAfee https://www.yahoo.com/tech/13-... The insane life of John McAfee http://www.businessinsider.com...
McAfee left his namesake company long before it went public and he sold all his shares a few years after it went public.
It was pretty awesome back when he was in charge. Before the internet was even public, they had an FTP server with the login "ftp" and the password "ftp123" and any customer could download new binaries. Well, or even a non-customer, actually. ;) And the product was good. It was early in the arms race, and his product did a good job at detecting known threats, which was the purpose. Viruses were mostly being transmitted in floppy disks back then.
The crappiness was entirely associated with the brand at a later time, after he wasn't working there anymore. He was only there the first 5 years.
He has every right to use his own name in trade, they were fools to threaten him. He's going to court to prove them wrong, they'll have to admit they were wrong in advance to avoid spending the money on it. And it is a slam dunk for him. He won't get any money or anything, but he'll win. A feather for his cap!
pretty much killed McAfee Antivirus by bloating it up so much to use so much memory that it killed sales and people went to Nod32 and other antivirus programs that used less memory and ran faster.
Intel did this on purpose so people would think their old PCs needed a new upgrade to a faster processor to run AV faster. The same thing happens with video games eating up a lot of memory foring gaming to buy new parts.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
The "McAfee" trademark is registered under various categories including the "Scientific and technological services" category (code 042), so trying to register "John McAfee Global Technologies Inc" is going to conflict with that.
McAfee should not have a problem registering a trademark for his company under his name or with his name in it so long as it has nothing to do with anti-virus software.
The "McAfee" trademark is registered under various categories including the "Scientific and technological services" category (code 042), so trying to register "John McAfee Global Technologies Inc" is very likely going to conflict with that.
He *had* every right to use his own name in trade. Then he sold those rights. What (do you think) happened that made those rights revert to him?
Walter S Taylor had the same problem after CocaCola bought the Taylor Wine Company in upstate New York. Walter lost his last name in court!
He's a libertarian, insofar as he's a rat bastard.
Note to self: "Intel Security" is apparently based on McAfee products, so don't ever, EVER use it.
Bathsalt Software Technology Inc.
What makes you think he sold the rights to his name? I am not privy to whatever agreement allowed McAfee security to retain the name after he left, are you an insider in that agreement? McAfee the person made no agreements with Intel when McAfee the company was sold to Intel as he was not involved at that time.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
I think he sold the rights to use his name because uspto.gov lists McAfee, Inc., as the owner of the relevant trademarks. Brains: How do they work?
What trademarks do they actually own? The McAfee name perhaps, but that doesn't necessarily apply to the "John McAfee" name, I think the difference is significant enough that a court will decide that is non-infringing. Do you know how trademarks work?