Commodore's fate in Canada uncertain (after Escom buys parent)

Escom's recent purchase of Commodore's trademarks and technology is causing confusion about the future of the Commodore brand name in Canada.

Escom bought the Amiga technology, the Commodore trademark name and the remaining inventories around the world," says Doug MacGregor, general manager of Commodore Business Machines (Canada) Ltd. in Toronto. "They did not buy any of the operating companies, like Commodore Canada or Commodore UK."

Commodore Electronics Ltd., the parent company, went into liquidation last spring with debts of more than $150 million.

Escom AG, Germany's second-largest computer manufacturer and retailer, out-bid Dell Computer Corp. to buy the struggling company in May. Escom took over Commodore's assets for about US$12 million, including the worldwide trademarks and technology patents for Commodore PCs and Amiga multimedia machines.

Escom says it plans to build Commodore computers, ranging from the Amiga to the Commodore 64, and integrate Amiga technology with the MS-DOS format. An...