Oric logo and trademark

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Steve M
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Steve M »

Chema wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 8:14 pm They can start claiming us to retire the games from free download or something.

Or, worse, they could somewhat get the rights of the ROM and ask everyone to retire any ROM image around. Or with SEDORIC or Microdisc ROM and prevent people from having programs that use SEDORIC to boot or disk controllers that use the EPROM from being built and sold.
I don't think so. The copyright returns to the author if the company no longer exists. So if Tansoft had the rights to Geoff Phillips software he now has it back.
It's unclear who owns or owned the rights to Oric and its ROMs, but you don't obtain it just by rehashing a logo.
It was suggested the French Oric company didn't fully own Oric but also assets were sold off when they went under. At some point British Car Auctions were a major part in the company and they seem to still exist. I did try to contact them about it but I didn't get a reply that showed any understanding of what I was asking.

If you look at the logo registration the purposes are listed.

Retro inspired software and application software and downloadable software and application software; computer hardware; downloadable publications; parts and fitting for video game apparatus namely cables, connectors and adaptors.

Retro inspired clothes, shoes, hats.

Retro inspired games, toys and playthings; video game apparatus, controllers and joysticks including parts and fittings namely cables, connectors and adaptors.

So it would suggest they intend to make something like the C64 mini and sell some merchandise. If the original trademarks are protected then making new 'retro inspired' versions may get them off the hook. I doubt they want to stop the online software use as their gadget will no doubt depend on using such software. https://retrogames.biz/

Here's some of the other logos they've registered. Perhaps a multiplatform gadget is on the horizon?
https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmown ... 0003306145
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Steve M
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Steve M »

Some further browsing has revealed these pages of intereset.
https://retrotrader.com/about/
https://retrotrader.com/brand/oric/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/retrot ... refinement
and see page 15 of this pdf.
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Chema
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Chema »

Ah there you are then. Thanks! I'd love that backpack if it had the original logo :)
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NekoNoNiaow
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by NekoNoNiaow »

Holy kitty, it looks like they are trying to acquire the entirety of retro stuff on earth.
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Dbug
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Dbug »

Steve M wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:59 pm It's interesting what results a search for 'Oric Logo' throw up. https://www.google.com/search?q=oric+lo ... 04&bih=911
A actually compared my Oric logo (the one I used on the 30th year birthday, which I reused for my floppy labels) to the one on my actual Oric equipment and books, and it's not 100% correct, mostly two issues:
- The "C" is not correctly closing: If you imagine you put a small black square in the "mouth" of the C, in mine the angle is larger than 90 degrees, on the actual Oric one it's less than 90 degrees
- The "R" slanted leg is not attached to the "P" part of the body with the same exact position and angle

Maybe I should redo a high definition scan of the original, clean it and make it available so we can start using the actual exact logo instead of a shitty replica made from scans we did with 90ies accuracy scanners :D
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by ibisum »

Just one thing: the market for retro computing is expanding - not contracting. Every day more and more people are interested in old computing platforms, and it would be very unwise to ignore the fact that this trademark action is in preparation for a bigger market in the coming months/years.

I say this, purely because my TIMETRON2019 exhibit has been receiving immense interest from the public who pass it by every day at the MQ here in Vienna - and without fail, the reaction is either "I am going to get my old computer back up and running again", or "I should get one of these old machines and play with it again, it was very fun".

So, don't overlook the fact that this market is expanding, folks. We may feel we are safe in obscurity as Oric users, but this would not be a wise move.

The other thing I wish to say is that this community can and SHOULD defend the trademark claim - we are still using the trademark to refer to our old computers, and there is a community (and thus an economy) which can claim that their trademark application infringes on our use of it already. This would require a concerted effort - perhaps the current admin of Oric.org would need to get involved, in order to present the case that this trademark claim is invalid, since we still use the trademark to refer to the older companies. I would strongly urge we, as a community, respond to this criminal attempt to usurp our use of the trademark.
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Chema
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Chema »

About recreating the logo, Dbug, I already made an effort and the result is here viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1172&hilit=Oric+lo ... =15#p11961

It is the closest to the original that I could manage, but any improvement would be great!
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Dbug
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Dbug »

Chema wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 10:35 am About recreating the logo, Dbug, I already made an effort and the result is here viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1172&hilit=Oric+lo ... =15#p11961

It is the closest to the original that I could manage, but any improvement would be great!
Yours is not bad, but it was made from a small size original, as it happens, in the various Oric/Tansoft stuff I have, there was one such logo that was 15cm wide, and it's much easier to get the right proportions from a large source than from a tiny one.

I overlapped yours on top of the one I scanned, and it's mostly ok for the letters, except the R which does not have the correct internal curve and the bottom part of the outside curve, as well as the red band that is on a different angle :)

The main issue though is the green fringing around the letters.

Interestingly, the "Oric Logo in vector form" website suffers from the same proportion issues as yours, so I guess it started from the same small size one?

I'll try to keep my clean up scan as high res a possible, and provide reference versions with alpha, and in variants for both black and white backgrounds.
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Chema
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Chema »

Mmmmm... I thought I had corrected those, anyway they are on vector format so if you want you can send me your scan and I could try to fix that.

The strange fringe around the letters is something that puzzled me. I just recently noticed it too, and I am not sure if that was something added by ten conversion to bitmap or something I added by mistake.
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mikeb
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

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ibisum wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 8:13 amperhaps the current admin of Oric.org would need to get involved
That's a very good point.

What happens if/when oric.org get a "Stop cybersquatting on our domain" demand? Do they have really deep pockets for lawyers?
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Symoon
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Symoon »

mikeb wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 5:32 pm
ibisum wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 8:13 amperhaps the current admin of Oric.org would need to get involved
That's a very good point.
I'm afraid he's far too busy with real life right now.
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ibisum
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

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>I'm afraid he's far too busy with real life right now.


Then perhaps we ought to have a call to arms in the Oric community to ensure we are safe from these criminals.
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Chema
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by Chema »

Talking about this, in The Story so Far it says
It was a limbo that was to persist until as late as December, 1988, when the shop in Paris was finally closed, the company wound up, and a company named I.R.I. set up to dispose of the remaining stocks and the name.
So I understand the company called IRI was the last known owner of the rights to the brand and logo (I assume). Does anybody have more information? Which is this IRI company? There is one IRI France S.A., but this was founded in 1993. And then there is, of course, IRI International, which still exists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovativ ... ernational

I wonder if it would be nice to find out which company the text refers to and see if we can contact them and ask. Or maybe not...
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Symoon
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

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Oric International still existed in France early 1990. Got somewhere a stock market magazine that talks about the benefits (well, actually, loss) for the year 1989.
But it's a mess between all the different "Oric xxxxx" (France, International, ...), I don't know much about about it.
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mikeb
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Re: Oric logo and trademark

Post by mikeb »

Symoon wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 6:03 pm I'm afraid he's far too busy with real life right now.
I don't know what exactly this means, and it's none of my business, so don't feel the need to explain.

However, "busy with real life" won't be a valid reason for ignoring a take-down attempt by lawyers. That was my concern.
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