Commodore USA

This article is about the Florida-based company that operated in the 2010s. For the classic PC manufacturer that operated from 1954–1994, see Commodore International.
Commodore USA, LLC
Founded2010
Defunct2013
HeadquartersFort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Key people
Barry Altman (deceased)
Leo Nigro

Commodore USA, LLC was a computer company based in Pompano Beach, Florida, with additional facilities in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Commodore USA, LLC was founded in April 2010.[1] The company's goal was to sell a new line of PCs using the classic Commodore and Amiga[2] name brands of personal computers, having licensed the Commodore brand from Commodore Licensing BV on August 25, 2010[3] and the Amiga brand from Amiga, Inc. on August 31, 2010.[4]

After the 2012 demise of Commodore USA, the claimed Commodore brand license turned out to be invalid, as a court ruled in 2013 that neither Asiarim Corporation nor its subsidiary Commodore Licensing BV ever were in a position to grant such a license. The court found that the Commodore trademarks were held by C=Holdings BV, and held Asiarim liable for trademark infringement.[5] The Amiga brand license too was disputed by Hyperion Entertainment,[6] on the basis of a 2009 settlement agreement between Hyperion and Amiga.

The last news release from the website is dated March 21, 2012. In January 2013, it was revealed that founder and driving force Barry S. Altman died of cancer on December 8, 2012.[7] The last post on Commodore USA's forum came from Leo Nigro (Chief Technical Officer) on the 9th of December concerning the Amiga line.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Commodore USA". Commodore USA. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  2. ^ Commodore (April 7, 2010). "The Commodore 64 Lives Again". Fox News. Archived from the original on April 10, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  3. ^ "Commodore Announces Exclusive Worldwide Licensing Rights – Companies Ink Deal For New Product Line". PRLog. August 25, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  4. ^ "Amiga News". Amiga.com. August 31, 2010. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  5. ^ "C=Holdings B.V. v. Asiarim Corp". Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Commodore Gets Rights to Amiga, Hyperion Takes Legal Action". Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Barry s. Altman (1949 - 2012)". Commodore.net Forums. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Forum Update: Product Lineup". commodore.net. Retrieved 15 February 2013.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "no c64s available in store?". Commodore 64 forums.[permanent dead link]