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Blog RetroPie Victim of 'Stolen Identity'
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  • Author Author: cstanton
  • Date Created: 26 Feb 2017 12:27 PM Date Created
  • Views 2896 views
  • Likes 7 likes
  • Comments 13 comments
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  • emulation station
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RetroPie Victim of 'Stolen Identity'

cstanton
cstanton
26 Feb 2017

Almost everyone has heard of RetroPie.

 

image

 

The open source software which has enabled a bunch of Ikea tables with embedded Raspberry Pi.

 

Unfortunately, they've recently learnt a bitter lesson in trademarks, that unless you get there first, someone else can pull the rug out from under your feet, as the makers behind RetroPie call out for legal help.

 

image

 

Amazingly, someone from India has setup a website selling Raspberry Pi's with the software on the SDCards, something which is already against the license of RetroPie.

 

image

 

Furthermore, they're practically claiming RetroPie as their own, as they have filed a trademark in America (yes, even though they're from India) to lay claim to 'RetroPie' and 'Emulation Station'.

 

image

 

image

Allegedly the person behind this trademark registration has come out with his side of events and reasoning why they've done this:

 

image

 

 

So perhaps a word of warning, even if you're creating something open source, even if you're giving it out there and believe the GPL and licensing protect you, ultimately you cannot stop someone unless you've put measures in place to protect it first, and you're able to chase after them with the money necessary to hire lawyers/solicitors. A sour lesson, all the same.

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Top Comments

  • Former Member
    Former Member over 9 years ago +2
    That sucks, I hope if they're successful in resolving this they can pursue for damages made by the owner of the fake trademark for issuing those take down requests.
  • Jan Cumps
    Jan Cumps over 9 years ago +2
    ... although they can be disturbing to you - with the trademark issues they are raising - they will not be long-lived though. None of the businesses that do faul play with open source have a significant…
  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 9 years ago +2
    Interesting conversation. While they want ot increase sales of retro games, and a case, etc there is no need to steal the name of an existing system and claim it as theirs. Hopefully they get what they…
  • Jan Cumps
    Jan Cumps over 9 years ago in reply to clem57

    I've checked the conversation that Mr. HAan refers to. It explains what happened yes (we've used your name and registered it ourselves because you didn't express commercialisation interest in a mail exchange to us).

    Regardles of the issues with the license - selling of the ROMs not allowed - it's the kind of commercial act that's not seen as honourable anywhere.

     

    Next the team that grabbed the RetroPie flag got their case design IP grabbed and sold on by other companies. It's a cascade of rough business .

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  • clem57
    clem57 over 9 years ago in reply to makerguy

    Sorry, I do not buy that explanation. image

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  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 9 years ago

    Interesting conversation.

     

    While they want ot increase sales of retro games, and a case, etc there is no need to steal the name of an existing system and claim it as theirs.

     

    Hopefully they get what they deserve .

     

     

    Mark

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  • makerguy
    makerguy over 9 years ago

    Looks like the folks are coming out clean,  It looks like what they did what founder should have done long ago.

    they do have interesting points to add on the ongoing retropie and online marketplace cannibalization >>https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/59819

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  • Jan Cumps
    Jan Cumps over 9 years ago

    ... although they can be disturbing to you - with the trademark issues they are raising - they will not be long-lived though.

    None of the businesses that do faul play with open source have a significant life span.

    Just like you, they operate in the small geek tech circle, where word goes around quickly (non geeks aren't that interested in retro games)

    And in that market, where sympathy plays a role, they won't steal much business.

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