When Andy Rubin (co-founder of Android) announced that he was working on a smartphone that would break the market, many were the media that created great excitement about it, an expectation that turned into a disappointment when Rubin's Essential hit the market. The Essential brand, since the end of 2020, has become part of Nothing Technologies, the new company of former OnePlus director Carl Pei.
As the guys from 9to5Google have been able to verify, the UK Intellectual Property Office shows how the Essential brand has seen a change in ownership from Andy Rubin to Car Pei, a process that was completed on January 6, 2 months after making the request dated November 11, 2020.
Since the departure of Carl Pei, much has been speculated about the products that he will put on the market under the Nothing Technologies brand, products oriented to make homes smart.
What do means this?
All Essential trademarks, including logo and branding are now owned by Carl Pei. It is unclear whether any patents Andy Rubin may have filed during the Essential design process were in the company's name or his.
Most likely, were in Rubin's name, since if the company has changed the name of the owner, it does not imply that the patents that the company could have registered also do so. In addition, no news has been published about an economic transaction between Rubin and Pei.
Despite not being a bad phone, the Essential PH-2, the second generation of the Essential was in the pipeline, however Rubin's sexual abuse allegations they quickly ended the project, running out of the necessary funding to carry out the project.
