Sally, (01)
It isn't that we don't care about the trademark issue, only that we
belive it's resolved (at least in the US) because all AUGMENT
trademarks are "dead" according to the USPTO search engine. Is there
anything else you think we should do besides include it in a
quitclaim agreement pro forma? (02)
At 04:28 PM 11/17/2005, Sally Abel wrote:
>Phil and John:
>
>Just had a long talk with Kathy Gallagher, the in-house lawyer at
>Boeing. She adamantly refuses to have Boeing execute a quit claim as to
>either the copyright or the trademarks because she is convinced that
>Boeing assigned all of those rights to BT (who may have since assigned
>the rights to Sprint). She bases her understanding on the fact that,
>though the deal documents appear to be lost, she did see a trademark
>assignment from Boeing to BT, and there is someone in the company who
>was involved in the sale to BT who says all rights transferred to BT.
>Kathy indicated that she would be willing to sign a quit claim if the
>company thought it might have residual rights but since it does not
>believe it has any rights, she believes it would be bad faith on
>Boeing's part to sign anything, despite my suggestion that the quit
>claim be worded as "we don't think we own anything, but if we do we
>assign whatever it is to you". She made the point that Boeing has no
>intent of ever coming after the Museum for using the software/marks.
>
>So at this point it looks like we need to pursue the BT connection. I
>will try to find out who is currently in-house trademark counsel there
>(that person might also be responsible for copyrights, or would know who
>is). I took a quick look at the US and EC trademark registries and did
>not see any current trademark registrations for AUGMENT. If we really
>are concerned about the trademark side, we might think about filing our
>own application in the EC, where rights are based on first to file (as
>opposed to first to use), but per Phil's mail below apparently we truly
>only care about the copyright issue going forward (this was news to me).
>
>Finally, I have marked up the draft quit claim to include both a
>copyright and a trademark assignment should we ultimately find the right
>party.....
>
>Sally
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Philip Gust [mailto:gust@NouveauSystems.com]
>Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 3:10 PM
>To: Sally Abel
>Cc: toole@computerhistory.org; nls-legal@chm.cim3.net
>Subject: RE: Augment
>
>Sally,
>
>The issues isn't trademarks. We've pretty well put that one to bed by
>establishing that all trademarks are dead. The issue is copyrights to
>Augment. Your recommendation on getting both Boeing and BT to quitclaim
>any interest in those copyrights to CHM seems like the right way to go.
>I spoke with John Toole about this yesterday evening, and we both agree
>we can't make our Augment work available to the community until we've
>completed this process. The technical group has made fantastic
>progress, to the point that this legal issues will be a bottleneck
>fairly soon.
>
>
>At 02:32 PM 11/17/2005, Sally Abel wrote:
> >Dear Phil:
> >
> >Thanks for the below, and apologies for the radio silence. I was out
> >of state all last week and have been digging out ever since. I left
> >you what likely was a cryptic message last night, when I was able to
> >pick up your message about the Software Project meeting, but likely you
>
> >received the message too late for the meeting. What I was trying to
> >convey was though we do not yet have the assignment in place (and even
> >may never get it) that doesn't mean that the project cannot move ahead.
>
> >We do not need to own the mark in the name of the software in order to
> >be able to use the software and refer to it by its actual name. This
> >would be a fair use independent of the question of who owns the mark.
> >Of course, I am assuming we are not actually going to market software
> >under the name, but will simply refer to the software in the context of
>
> >our museum activities.
> >
> >The below is very helpful with regard to BT. I too formerly had a
> >contact at BT, and can always connect with their current inhouse
> >trademark lawyer(s) if Scott comes up empty handed. Let me know.
> >
> >I am calling Al Poskanzer now, and will let you know when I have
> >anything further from him. Let's get together and celebrate (or
> >commiserate) when we have Boeing's buy in.
> >
> >Looking forward to getting together,
> >
> >Sally
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Philip Gust [mailto:gust@NouveauSystems.com]
> >Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2005 5:43 PM
> >To: Sally Abel
> >Cc: nls-legal@chm.cim3.net
> >Subject:
> >
> >Sally,
> >
> >I want to follow up with you about approaching Boeing and BT about
> >executing a quitclaim for Augment copyrights in favor of the Computer
> >History Museum.
> >
> >I spoke with Scott Griffin, Boeing's CIO, on Friday and asked for his
> >help identifying the right people at BT to approach about this. He
> >thinks that BT is the most likely current owner of any copyrights. It
> >turns out that Scott actually knew the person at BT who may have been
> >involved, but he unfortunately died a few years back, and Scott doesn't
>
> >have any other personal contacts he can call on. He said, however,
> >that he'd see who he can locate and get back to us.
> >
> >Scott also mentioned that Al Poskanzer, who you've been dealing with,
> >works for a peer of Scott's. Scott is a big supporter of this project,
>
> >and when I had mentioned the idea of a quitclaim, he thought it was a
> >sensible approach. Scott he'd brief his peer about the project and
> >encourage him to have Al work with us to get it done as quickly as
> >possible.
> >
> >So I think the pump is primed to go back to Boeing, and I'll let you
> >know whether Scott's leads or any others we're pursing go anywhere.
> >Please let me know how soon you'll be able to restart discussions with
> >Al, and whether I can do anything to help. If you want to meet some
> >time to get acquainted, Nouveau System's offices are less than 3
> >minutes away on Evelyn Avenue, near Highway 85, and I could bounce over
>
> >or meet you somewhere in Mt. View.
> >
> >By the way, I belong to a CEO group called the CEO Network, and Fenwick
>
> >is a sponsor of the group through Fred Greguras. We meet at Fenwick's
> >Mt. View offices monthly. Small world...
> >
> >Best regards,
> >
> >
> >
> >Philip Gust
> >Nouveau Systems, Inc.
> >
> >phone: +1 650 961-7992
> >fax: +1 520 843-7217
> >
> >
> >mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com
> >--------------------------------------------------------
> >
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> >imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice in
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> >of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii)
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> >
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> >If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify
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>
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>
>
>Philip Gust
>Nouveau Systems, Inc.
>
>phone: +1 650 961-7992
>fax: +1 520 843-7217
>
>
>mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com
>--------------------------------------------------------
>
>IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with
>requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal
>tax advice in this communication (including attachments) is not
>intended or written by Fenwick & West LLP to be used, and cannot be
>used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal
>Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to
>another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.
>--------------------------------------------------------
>
>ATTENTION:
>The information contained in this message may be legally privileged
>and confidential. It is intended to be read only by the individual
>or entity to whom it is addressed or by their designee. If the
>reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are on
>notice that any distribution of this message, in any form, is
>strictly prohibited.
>
>If you have received this message in error, please immediately
>notify the sender and/or Fenwick & West LLP by telephone at (650)
>988-8500 and delete or destroy any copy of this message. (03)
Philip Gust
Nouveau Systems, Inc. (04)
phone: +1 650 961-7992
fax: +1 520 843-7217 (05)
mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com (06)
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