Terrific news! Let's keep it moving. Thanks for your help, Sally!
Yes, have them send me the letter, and perhaps ask for an electronic
copy, so we need not wait to scan. (01)
--John (02)
-----Original Message-----
From: Sally Abel
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 6:55 PM
To: Sally Abel; Philip Gust
Cc: John Toole; nls-legal@chm.cim3.net
Subject: RE: Augment (03)
Phil: (04)
I just connected with Kathy who said that she would be willing to send a
letter on behalf of Boeing indicating that it has no ongoing rights in
any of the intellectual property associated with the Augment program and
will not take any action against the museum in connection with the
museum's dissemination or use of Augment. She is going to check with
her patent guys to confirm she can say that but doesn't see a problem.
That is all we need to eliminate Boeing as a potential problem. (05)
Unless I hear from someone otherwise tomorrow, I will send her an email
having her direct the letter to John T. as Ex Director of the Museum. (06)
On BT: I should have a contact name in the legal dept. this week. (07)
Sally (08)
-----Original Message-----
From: Sally Abel
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 2:48 PM
To: 'Philip Gust'
Cc: 'toole@computerhistory.org'; 'nls-legal@chm.cim3.net'
Subject: RE: Augment (09)
Hi Phil: (010)
I have a call in to her. I will try her again today. (011)
Sally (012)
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Gust [mailto:gust@NouveauSystems.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 2:17 PM
To: Sally Abel
Cc: toole@computerhistory.org; nls-legal@chm.cim3.net
Subject: RE: Augment
Importance: High (013)
Sally, (014)
I was just checking back again to see if you have any information about
recontacting Kathy Gallagher. (015)
At 09:07 AM 11/23/2005, Philip Gust wrote:
>Sally,
>
>I wanted to check back with you to see if you were able to reach Kathy
>Gallagher, and to find out whether she would be willing to send us a
>memorandum like the one I suggested. I'll be in the office today until (016)
>mid-afternoon in case you need to reach me.
>
>At 09:30 AM 11/18/2005, Philip Gust wrote:
>>Sally,
>>
>>Let me suggest that you ask Kathy Gallagher to put into a memorandum
>>what she has stated to you for our records, namely that:
>>
>>1. In her opinion Boeing assigned all its rights in Augment to BT 2.
>>Boeing transferred its trademark Augment trademark to BT 3. Although
>>the deal documents appear to be lost a someone in the company who was
>>involved with the sale to BT has told her the rights were transferred
>>to BT. <<ASK HER TO INCLUDE THAT PERSON'S NAME AND POSITION IN THIS
>>MEMORANDUM>> 4. Boeing disclaims any interest in Augment trademarks,
>>copyrights, or patents 5. Boeing has no intent of pursing legal action (017)
>>as a result any dissemination or use of Augment
>>
>>I think that if we act relying on such a memorandum, we'll be well
>>enough covered. And as a practical matter, it's the best we're likely (018)
>>to get.
>>
>>Please let me know if you agree with this course of action, and if so
>>please ask Kathy for such a memorandum. If you think it would make
>>things easier, perhaps we could draft the memorandum (once we have the (019)
>>missing name of the person Kathy talked with) and simply get her to
>>approve and sign it.
>>
>>Best regards,
>>
>>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 (020)
>>>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 (021)
>>>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 (022)
>>>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 (023)
>>>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 (024)
>>>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 (025)
>>>we've completed this process. The technical group has made fantastic (026)
>>>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 (027)
>>> >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 (028)
>>> >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 (029)
>>> >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, (030)
>>> >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 (031)
>>> >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 (032)
>>> >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 (033)
>>> >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
>>> >--------------------------------------------------------
>>> >
>>> >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 (034)
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>>> >cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the (035)
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>>> >--------------------------------------------------------
>>> >
>>> >ATTENTION:
>>> >The information contained in this message may be legally privileged (037)
>>> >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
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>>> >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.
>>>
>>>
>>>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 (038)
>>>imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S.
>>>federal tax advice in this communication (including attachments) is
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>>>The information contained in this message may be legally privileged
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>>>
>>>If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify (043)
>>>the sender and/or Fenwick & West LLP by telephone at (650) 988-8500
>>>and delete or destroy any copy of this message.
>>
>>
>>Philip Gust
>>Nouveau Systems, Inc.
>>
>>phone: +1 650 961-7992
>>fax: +1 520 843-7217
>>
>>
>>mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com
>
>
>Philip Gust
>Nouveau Systems, Inc.
>
>phone: +1 650 961-7992
>fax: +1 520 843-7217
>
>
>mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com (044)
Philip Gust
Nouveau Systems, Inc. (045)
phone: +1 650 961-7992
fax: +1 520 843-7217 (046)
mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com
-------------------------------------------------------- (047)
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.
-------------------------------------------------------- (048)
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. (049)
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. (050)
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