IBM and the Thinkpad

Question. When the deal ends 2008 - do you think IBM will sell the Thinkpad name to someone else...the Dell ThinkPad...or Thinkpad from Acer......

I figure as soon as 2009 hits (until then they promised 90% of sales would be to Lenovo according to a google search ) IBM sales reps will be heading to customers with a alternatives. I've already seen high ranking software group employees with Macs at conferences. The move is already starting.....

Not that it matters right now...they're a good deal if you get it shipped and don't need it soon.

 

There is no point to sell the name, without actual product. All companies sell product design and/or production facilities, employees together with the Company/brand name (Nokia screens, Teac Optical drives, IBM PC-s etc.). Else I believe customers will refuse to believe that the name has anything to do with actual product. What Lenovo got this way - a prove that they can make as good PC-s as IBM did. So they kept most of IBM customers and now they can switch back from IBM name back to Lenovo without loosing customers (or just few).

But to sell the name just like that, does not make any sense. Then IBM (current or former) team would need to build or design something for DELL or Acer. Or DELL or Acer would need to manufacture products for IBM etc. ...

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but since Lenovo bought the comapny would they not retain the use of the trademarked name "ThinkPad"? The IBM part of the logo is being dropped from the new T61 and R61 due later in the week. Just as AccessIBM has now morphed into ThinkVantage.

 

even if it is sold a think pad will never be a thinkpad witout what it is now or better
namely the superbbuild quality features,flexview and the legendary keyboard and wo could for get that plain black color

 

Unless i'm wrong it's really a moot point. The name Thinkpad will stay with Lenovo that's what they purchased from IBM, the rights to sell the Thinkpad brand. I can't remember but while most associated the IBM Thinkpad as a product built in the US it was actually being built by Lenovo. I'm uncertain now if my 380ED which I purchased back in 1997 was in fact built by none other than Lenovo or they were supplying the parts to IBM.

Lenovo has invested a lot of money in the Thinkpad trademark. It's in their best interest to maintain the same level of quality as in the past. If they don't all their investment into the Thinkpad trademark will have been a waste. Theres too much competition in the notebook arena for them to mess up and the market will grow as notebooks replace desktops in the future.

 

This is a rather insane little thread ...

Lenovo purchased IBM PC-Making Business in 2004 for more than $1.25 Billion (U.S.). Intellectual property rights (like trade names, trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets) are part of the assets. In fact, in a transaction like this, I suspect that the intellectual property rights were among the MOST VALUABLE components of the transaction. There is absolutely no factual or rational basis to the statement that ownership of the tradename "ThinkPad" expires in 2008.

Interestingly, the transaction effectively created a partnership of sorts between Lenovo and IBM because the deal was $600 million in cash, $500 million in debt (assumed by Lenovo), and $600 million in stock, giving IBM approximately 20% of the business ... together with its creditors, IBM hold a very substantial stake in the business and is vested in the continued success of Lenovo in general, and the Thinkpad in particular. In fact, as part of the deal, Lenovo hired 10,000 IBM employees. See http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/08/content_398336.htm

The "deal" you are referring to is deal to keep IBM's name on the laptop, under a "co-branding" agreement. I can reasonably assure you that Lenovo will not be adding the tradenames of its biggest competitors to its flagship product. If anything, Lenovo would drop the IBM name, but even that seems unlikely, especially since they just entered into a new service agreement.

 

Insane little thread indeed. Guest is simply trying to stir up FUD among current and potential Lenovo owners because we're not taking his delivery "fiasco" seriously enough.

 

I agree. The stench of troll is burning my nostrils.

 

This might be true but it's actually not.

It was a serious discussion I had with a friend of mine. The brand THINK was purchased on a licence through 2009. This was a surprise to me because I would have thought that the THINK brand was about 90% the value of the sale. Perhaps Lenovo thought they could "surpass" the brand and stand out on their own, but I haven't seen this happening.

For the record, I have a Thinkpad and like it very much. I may consider ordering from them again - in the future I don't see that I will have a similar time window; however, I will not wait 2 months.

My choice was always between two brands Apple v Lenovo based on price/quality (I didn't like what I had seen in comparable spec other brands..the Acer interested me too much $$$)

My question still stands - IBM is a software giant now....but I'm wondering if in 2009 they will "resell" the Thinkpad brand to another competitor (who would, obviously, have to pass certain quality guidelines)

It's not a trolling. I personally dont care what you think of my shipping fiasco...it's the internet and I'm free to feel pissy if I want. I'm over it.

 

Being upbeat is a better way to live your life. I'd be surprised if Lenovo did not acquire the rights to the name ThinkPad. Perhaps you could point to some evidence that says otherwise.

 

On the box of every Lenovo Thinkpad machine, it proudly states "Thinkpad is a brand of Lenovo" and "Thinkpad, ThinkVantage are registered trademarks of Lenovo" or something along those lines. Lenovo inherits the IP rights to Thinkpad, ThinkCentre, ThinkVantage and possibly every other Think-PC related stuff from IBM when they purchased IBM's PC business.

 

That's the way i've always understood it.

 

I agree too. The way i understand is the IBM emblem that have its limited life to use in Lenovo products.

 

Probably five years is the time I heard for the IBM logo to stay on thinkpads...later it'll be known as Lenovo ThinkPad. I bought a z61t recently and it is very decent in quality. Lenovo has been maintaining the reputation of this brand as it holds the rights for this brand....I dont think there is such an agreement for leasing the THINK brand for a few years. I believe lenovo acquired the brand for life.

 

In case you're interested. Lenovo DOES NOT own the think brank. That's why it is still called the "IBM Think". Their use expires in 2009. It's interesting because this article was last year and I still don't feel they've expanded beyond the core IBM market...

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060223_512286.htm

 

I believe there's a slight confusion there. Lenovo owns the Thinkpad brand, not the entire Think* brands. As you probably know, IBM calls many of its products Think* where * is some other subname representing the product line (can be software or hardware). Lenovo owns Thinkpad, ThinkCentre, ThinkVantage and other PC-related Think brands, while IBM retains the rights to use the others. There is an agreement in place for such an arrangement.
There will be Lenovo Thinkpads for years to come. $1.75 billion is not simply discarded like trash.

 

Correct. Lenovo owns "ThinkPad" (and the other two that chrixx mentioned), and does not have to stop using that brand name by any deadline. It's my understanding that they have 5 years from the initial deal to stop calling the ThinkPads by the "IBM" name.

As a brand, "ThinkPad" has much more value, recognition, and reputation than other similar names like Inspiron, Latitude, Pavillion, Satellite, Presario, etc. When someone says "I have a ThinkPad", that's instantly recognizable even without saying "IBM".

With the strong reputation of the ThinkPad brand for high end business laptops, and the experience of Lenovo manufacturing them under contract for IBM, Lenovo is well positioned, as long as they maintain the high levels of product quality and customer service that people have come to expect from a ThinkPad. If they let the service aspect slip (and they've had a few hiccups), they could lose considerable market share.

 

A quick search of the online records at the United States Patent and Trademark Office will show you that the current owner of the ThinkPad trademark is Lenovo PTE LTD.

 

If I purchase the New York Yankees, I would own all of the intellectual property rights as well ... I could then change the name of the baseball team to "New York Suckers" for signing a 44-year-old 'roided out pitcher ... or I could replace the logo with the "$$" symbol ... or I could change the uniform colors to peach and lavender. Mind you, I would still own the tradename "New York Yankees" and the "NY" symbol (ignoring for the moment certain risks of losing intellectual properties not actively used in commerce), even if I choose NOT to use them on the uniforms or in trade.

The Thinkpad tradename is the same. Lenovo purchase the Thinkpad division of IBM and then entered into a co-branding agreement to use "IBM" in connection with the sale for a period of five years. The T60 that I just purchased has an IBM logo. It sounds like Lenovo is going to move away from the co-branding with IBM, as evidenced by the fact that they are manufacturing another product (Lenovo 3000) without the IBM logo.

This means that we may very well see the "Lenovo Thinkpad" (no IBM reference), but not a "Dell Thinkpad" unless Dell purchased the intellectual property rights from Lenovo. The article in Guest's link actually says nothing about the expiration of the Thinkpad tradename, which would be insane. It would be like purchasing Coke but not having the right to use the tradename "Coke" in five years.

 

GO YANKEES!

& GO HP!

interesting analysis redman

 

i thought it was the ibm brand that was licensed till 2009 not the thinkpad license

i.e. lenovo could use ibm on their laptops and call them IBM thinkpads

after 2009 they would be Lenovo thinkpads

this was to avoid brand confusion