Earlier this year, retro gaming YouTuber Christian "Peri Fractic" Simpson purchased the Commodore brand from a Dutch company, relaunching it with help from many former Commodore employees.
The revived brand is launching the Commodore 64 Ultimate, a new version of the iconic home computer based on Gideon Zweijtzer's Ultimate 64 Elite-II board.
Back when the purchase was in its final stages, Commodore Industries S.r.l. – an Italian 'revival' of the brand founded by Luigi Simonetti back in 2017 – challenged the revived trademarks, saying:
"Commodore Industries S.r.l. has always been willing to collaborate with anyone who truly wants to enhance and promote the brand and what it has represented for all of us in the community. However, where necessary, we will be ready to protect our rights, before any authority, on the strength of the legal and substantive grounds that have been explained in detail in this press release."
Many assumed (or perhaps hoped) some kind of deal would be reached between Commodore Industries and Commodore International, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
In a post on the Commodore 64 Facebook group spotted by Commodore Blog, Commodore Industries has moved to prevent Commodore International from using the name:
Under Simonetti’s leadership, Commodore Industries has produced a series of products – including laptops, tablets, headphones, cables and speakers – all emblazoned with the famous Commodore logo. It has not, however, attempted to resurrect any of Commodore's previous systems, but it is involved in video games – it's producing fresh versions of Taito's New Zealand Story and Bitmap Brothers' Xenon.
In a seemingly unrelated post, Commodore International has posted a letter from Leonard Tramiel, son of Jack Tramiel, the original founder of Commodore.
While it's an impassioned and heartfelt message, the complex situation regarding the ownership of the Commodore name means that this could potentially get quite messy, regardless of how Commodore's original owners feel.