personally i think that after 20 years lister has two options, or rather should be given two optioins
1. reintroduce the engine and sell it, to protect their name and rights to the name, or.
2. shut up
good grief if you arent produceing in that segment of the market, then how on earth can you protect the name and all its variants? let alone a
numeric term such as 6/1?
i dont know what your freedom of speech laws over the pond are, but i wouldnt allow them to dictate shit over here.
i am not sure the microsoftoid analogy is an apples to apples, in that their products are currently in production, being developed and marketed vigorously.
if lister was to do the same, then i would say yes, they have a bitch with anyone knocking them off, useing or trading on their good name and all that.
message to lister:
for god's sake either put up or shut up,,,, make it easy for you and us, just reintroduce the 6/1 ... ok?
bob g
Lister _are_ still trading, in many ways they are bigger than they have ever been.
This is just corporate attitude, they are all the same, if you think different try selling a Caterpillaroid or Arrowoid and see how long it takes for the cease and desist letters to start arriving from their lawyers.
Lister are a business, put a decent offer on the table to make a CS 6/1 under licence and provided your product is decent quality and so on and so forth they will be only too pleased to do business with you.
Perhaps I should buy a cadillac and take it to russia and have a clone made in trabant style, paper pulp body panels, funky two stroke V8 motor, and sell it in the states as a Cadillacoid Fletwood Brougham, obviously when it is involved in an accident and disintegrates killing all the occupants none of the press reports will mention the brand name "Cadillac" anywhere... not.
Maybe I can do a passable imitation of Elvis and start selling records as Elvis Presleyr, sure the estate won't mind.
I know lots of people take this kind of "They don't make it anymore so why should they care" attitude, here's one for you.
I got divorced some years ago, you know the point I wanted stressed more than anything else?
When you divorce me, you give up my name.
Suddenly it's different when it's YOUR name or YOUR brand that is concerned.
There is a place in the states caled Mobile yes? pronounced mo-beel. Bound to be a mechanic type there called robert.
SO what if he calls himself "Mobile Bob" (mo-beel bob, not mobile bob) and sets up in business near you doing the same thing as you?
You KNOW he is gonna get _some_ work as a result of your good name, even if you retire tomorrow...