KF COPYRIGHT

[Terry T]

WHO OWNS THE KAISER FRAZER NAME?

[Aeroman]

I want to venture a guess that whatever remains of the Kaiser companies in Oakland, CA (?) still have control of that.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Kaiser Industries was dissolved in the late 1980's.  This is important as in 1955, Kaiser Motors Corporation (Kaiser-Frazer Corporation got a name change at the 1953 Stockholders Meeting) became Kaiser Industries Corporation.  It acquired the copyrights, trade names, etc of Kaiser-Frazer as various agreements with debt holders made between 1953 and 1955 stated that no intangible property would go to Willys Motors, only physical assets (parts, tooling, etc) as Willys bought the physical assets from Kaiser Motors.

So who owns what?  Although Chrysler Corporation claimed that their lock, stock & barrel purchase of American Motors in 1985 gave them Kaiser-Frazer related copyrights, the company disavowed any connection with Kaiser-Frazer Corporation or Kaiser Motors Corporation in a brief filed with the court regarding the EPA's attempts to assess monetary damages for the clean-up of the Willow Creek Watershed.  If someone claims rights currently, they also have to accept responsibility for damages on the EPA case.

I helped to do the legal research for Chrysler Corporation and found all this out. 

Additionally, when Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy it is my understanding that this further distanced the operation from Kaiser-Frazer and Kaiser Motors.  Chrysler still retained the valuable copyrights, trademarks, patents, etc, that may still be valid for things pertaining to Willys Motors, Kaiser-Jeep & Willys-Overland.

Please note I am not an attorney and do not claim to be a lawyer. To be certain what I know is indeed correct, please consult an attorney before acting on my information.

[joefrazer]

Yes, the molds for the pedal car still exist. There are no plans to produce more at this time.

And, my counsel's findings pertaining to the Kaiser-Frazer name match those noted here.

[Terry T]

Where can I find documents that support these facts?

[Aeroman]

The Divco Club holds the copyright to all things Divco, including names and logos. I think this is what Terry may be thinking about. It would be nice if the club was indeed the legal owner of our own name.

[Roadmaster49]

I wasn't aware Chrysler went through Bankruptcy.    I thought in lieu of - they were sold to Fiat.

So many companies were in Willow Run.  I am not sure how they can pin the whole deal on the latest owner. 

[DTort96646]

GM and Chrysler both filed for bankruptcy after 2008, Ford did not. Daimler sold what they owned of Chrysler to Fiat and Fiat paid back the US Government bail out of Chrysler. GM still owes the US Government a large part of their Bailout money. One of the benefits of Chrysler filing for bankruptcy was to allow them to take franchises away from dealerships that were customer unfriendly, corrupt, or underperforming. A lot of dealers lot franchises. Oh, and the same with GM.

[JoeKeys2010]

Usually when you buy a company or facility you buy the assets and liabilities. So the current owner owns it all.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Nope,  the person offering purchase of a bankrupt firm makes a firm cash offer for the assets & proceeds are used to pay off creditors and cover liabilities.  If the company is NOT in bankruptcy, a buyer can offer to purchase everything lock, stock & barrel (like Chrysler bought AMC) and then assumes all liabilities.  A buyer can also offer to buy certain assets of a company and assume certain specific liabilities from a company as well (like Kaiser Manufacturing Corporation buying the vehicle assets of Willys-Overland; the former Willys-Overland Motors Corporation continued on as Overland Corporation an investment firm while KMC got the Willys and "Motors" names for the new company name, Willys Motors, Incorporated).

The offer to purchase the name, logos, etc, should have been made by the club back in the late 1970's or early 1980's to Kaiser Industries & they probably could have obtained them for $1.00.  They never went to AMC and as such, never went to Chrysler, or anywhere else.  To be sure though, I suggest any interested party contact a lawyer and have the legal research done in a proper, legal manner.  I can only offer what I know from my "piece of the puzzle" on the EPA thing.