Impossible acquires Polaroid name, intellectual property

bvy · May 13, 2017

In case you missed it:
https://petapixel.com/2017/05/12/polaroid-acquired-impossible-projects-largest-shareholder/

BrianShaw · May 13, 2017

Didn't see that. Thanks. Good for them!

EdSawyer · May 13, 2017

What possible value could the intellectual property (IP) have? The brand itself is certainly worthless. Unless there were some useful trade secrets in the IP (doubtful) that seems like a giant waste of someones money.

darkosaric · May 13, 2017

Well, I think if they sell films under Polaroid name - it is possible to get more customers. I am sure that there are many who will say "I have a Polaroid camera from my parents - didn't know there is a film still in production" - and they will buy a pack of film, or two.

Mackinaw · May 13, 2017

darkosaric said:
Well, I think if they sell films under Polaroid name - it is possible to get more customers. I am sure that there are many who will say "I have a Polaroid camera from my parents - didn't know there is a film still in production" - and they will buy a pack of film, or two.

Now that would be interesting, if Impossible would start to sell film under the Polaroid name.

Jim B.

AgX · May 13, 2017

EdSawyer said:
What possible value could the intellectual property (IP) have? The brand itself is certainly worthless.

The brand is definitely not worthless. Just check how often "Polaroid" shows up in the media especially brought up by young people. People not related to analogue photography let alone Impossible.

Who of the young folks can still begin something with "Agfa"? But "Polaroid" sure will ring a bell.

klownshed · May 13, 2017

It would be interesting if the 'intellectual property' included the formulas for the chemistry in Polaroid film...

AgX · May 13, 2017

"Intellectual Property" typically refers to knowlegde and ideas already casted in a legal form.
Aside of the brand there no longer is such.

Cholentpot · May 14, 2017

Good.

Maybe they'll get rid of the stupid re-branded batteries and ax that ZINK stuff.

AgX · May 14, 2017

There sure will be long time contracts regarding licensing that will not be affected by change of ownership.
Keep in mind the idea of intellectual property holdings is to sell licences, not to cancel them.

chassis · May 14, 2017

It's a great business move. I wonder what the transaction value was.

keenmaster486 · May 14, 2017

I am a "young person"... and I can verify that when even the youngest generation thinks of instant photos (or even of analog photography in general) they instantly think "Polaroid". Every single time. Whether it's Fuji, Impossible, or whatever, no matter what camera is used, it's all Polaroid to them. It's a universally recognized and universally respected brand... if you mention "Fujifilm" or "Impossible project" nobody blinks an eye, but take out your instax wide camera or whatever and everyone lights up and says "take my Polaroid picture!!"

MattKing · May 14, 2017

keenmaster486 said:
It's a universally recognized and universally respected brand

I agree with respect to the "universally recognized" part. I hope that Impossible can return it to being something close to "universally respected".

mgb74 · May 14, 2017

Tom Petters bought Polaroid after it's initial bankruptcy and then proceeded to slap the Polaroid brand on whatever he could source cheap from China. It's interesting that, even after 15 years of damage, the brand still has value.

Chan Tran · May 14, 2017

The intellectual property may have some trade secrets or some patent rights. Accquiring Polaroid Impossible Project are sure they will not get sued for any of those possible stuff. They may build new cameras that's out right copy of old Polaroid or an improvement upon them. They can use the name Polaroid and even the model number.

AgX · May 14, 2017

What patents?

Kilgallb · May 14, 2017

AgX said:
What patents?

Maybe the ones they used to successfully sue Kodak.

AgX · May 14, 2017

These are invalid for decades.
Patents only have a short legal longevity.

In contrast to other intellectual properties patents have been given a short legal lifespan just to encourage technologic progress. Such is worlwide accepted.

Agulliver · May 15, 2017

No doubt the Polaroid name is still worth something.....if it were not, then nobody would have licensed it for cheap TVs, audio cassettes, batteries and so on in the years since they stopped actually making anything themselves.

I would imagine that Impossible can now choose to rebrand all or some of their products as Polaroid, using any of the iconic Polaroid logos from years past. There also may yet be patents or other intellectual property such as film and chemical formulae.

Agulliver · May 15, 2017

Reading the press release as published on polaroid.com and elsewhere...it seems that the majority shareholder in Impossible has purchased the Polaroid name and associated IP. That would include the Polaroid logos (current and past) and what they consider to be the iconic Polaroid border (ie the shape of an SX70 type photo).

I'm not particularly young, but I do hear Polaroid as a brand still mentioned. It's what people of all ages think of when talking about instant film photos. The brand has been kept alive, even in major retail outlets, albeit not always with high quality products. But it never went away

AgX · May 15, 2017

Agulliver said:
That would include the Polaroid logos (current and past) and what they consider to be the iconic Polaroid border (ie the shape of an SX70 type photo).

The shape as such cannot be protected any longer, if it was at all. What they refer to as border is a logo in the shape of their unsymmetrical image frame.

Agulliver · May 15, 2017

AgX said:
The shape as such cannot be protected any longer, if it was at all. What they refer to as border is a logo in the shape of their unsymmetrical image frame.

Source, please? As it's one of the things specifically mentioned at polaroid.com

AgX · May 15, 2017

Even if it was protected as physical shape, what I doubt, how old is the SX70 system, how long lasts a patent?

So many of you overestimate patents.

Agulliver said:
As it's one of the things specifically mentioned at polaroid.com

Yes, specially mentioned, but explicitely that border is referred to as logo.

chriscrawfordphoto · May 15, 2017

AgX said:
Even if it was protected as physical shape, what I doubt, how old is the SX70 system, how long lasts a patent?

So many of you overestimate patents.

Yes, specially mentioned, but explicitely that border is referred to as logo.

In the USA, patents are only good for 17 years! The SX-70 stuff came out in the 1970s. 40 yrs ago.

Agulliver · May 15, 2017

But one can still copyright a design. And the iconic Polaroid "frame" with the larger bottom border is almost certainly included in the deal. Polaroid also used a variety of logos down the years which are almost certainly still protected by copyright.

And if it were so easy to copy technical specifications...someone would have copied Tri-X in the 80s rather than film manufacturers coming up with their own equivalents...

Impossible acquires Polaroid name, intellectual property

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