Intel blocks John McAfee from naming gaming company John McAfee Global Technologies
Entrepreneur John McAfee has had his efforts to rename investment company MGT Capital Investments as John McAfee Global Technologies scuppered by Intel which still holds the rights to the McAfee trademark.
John McAfee
McAfee made his name, and his fortune when he sold his cyber security firm of the same name to Intel in 2011 for $7.7bn. Although it renamed McAfee as Intel Security in 2014 as it looked to ship the software suite with its products, it is reportedly still prepared to litigate against any use of McAfee as it still owns the trademark.
It filed a complaint to the Manhattan federal court in response to MGT Capital Investments efforts at a rebrand under the John McAfee name.
Bloomberg reports that Intel is courting a sale of the McAfee unit which is valued at around $3bn, according to sources close to the transaction.
Intel will likely argue that on top of potentially breaching its trademark, the reemergence of the McAfee brand under John McAfee could reduce the value of the anti-virus system it is looking to offload.