Nothing, the newly launched startup by former OnePlus executive Carl Pei has acquired the Essential brand, according to a report by 9to5Google citing filings with the UK Intellectual Property Office. Essential, of course, was the company founded by Android creator Andy Rubin after he left Google. It launched a single smartphone before closing its doors due to poor sales performance. The acquisition of Nothing, which was completed on January 6, 2021, before Pei’s formal announcement of Nothing, apparently includes all of Essential’s trademarks, logo and other brands.
It is unclear what the new Pei company plans to do with the Essential brand (or anything else in that regard; information about what exactly Nothing’s product plans are as scarce as the company’s name itself), but how 9to5Google notes, there’s not much left of the brand at Essential, since the company closed its doors last year. Essential had planned to launch a follow-up for the only smartphone it brought to the market, as well as launching an ambitious new smart home platform, but none of them left the planning stages and were obviously dropped.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9070829/vpavic_170815_1924_0035.jpg)
It is also not clear why exactly Nothing would like to purchase the Essential brand, which can best be described as “tarnished” after a failed product launch and association with the Rubin name. A 2018 report from The New York Times detailed allegations of sexual misconduct attributed to Rubin during his time at Google and a massive $ 90 million purchase he received for leaving the company.
9to5Google The article says that Nothing will reveal more information about its upcoming products in the near future, so maybe we can learn more about what it plans to do with the Essential brand sooner or later. We contacted Nothing to comment and will update this article if the company responds.