Carl Pei’s Nothing now owns Andy Rubin’s Essential

Carl Pei’s Nothing is now the sole owner of Essential, the one-time smartphone brand. Here’s hoping this adds up to more than essentially nothing.

The filing indicates that all existing trademarks, logo and the whole Essential brand are now Nothing’s intellectual property. (Nothing)

Carl Pei and his Nothing technologies have been quite tight-lipped about what's on the cards and all we have seen from them are just a bunch of teasers. But there seems to have been some development and the latest news is that Nothing is now the sole owner of the “one-time smartphone brand” Essential.

According to a 9to5Google report, going by the recent filings at the UK Intellectual Property Office show that former Android founder, Andy Rubin, has signed over the ownership of Essential to Pei's Nothing Technologies Limited. The process was completed on January 6 while the application was made on November 1 last year.

Recent filings at the UK Intellectual Property Office show that former Android founder, Andy Rubin, has signed over the ownership of Essential to Pei’s Nothing Technologies Limited. (9to5Google )

Recent filings at the UK Intellectual Property Office show that former Android founder, Andy Rubin, has signed over the ownership of Essential to Pei’s Nothing Technologies Limited. (9to5Google )

The filing indicates that all existing trademarks, logo and the whole Essential brand are now Nothing's intellectual property. It is unclear though how this affects any of the patents held by Essential. Also, while this does not necessarily mean that Nothing is planning to enter the smartphone market, it does open up a host of possibilities that the company might consider down the line.

Essential has been working on its own Home smart hub and speaker that would run Ambient OS. This device was supposed to be launched in late 2017 but never made it to the market. 

Speculations have been rife about what product Nothing is going to launch first and the company recently confirmed that they are first going to introduce an array of wireless earbuds with a wider focus on smart home technology and integration. Nothing has said that their first smart devices will be coming in the first half of this year.

It is not clear if former engineers from Essential have joined Nothing as a part of this acquisition though, the process seems to only include the branding and trademark portfolio.

Nothing taking over Essential comes with some added baggage though. The sexual harassment allegations Rubin has effectively “ended hopes” that thier PH-1 would be followed by a PH-2. The company's Project Gem, a candybar prototype was teased in October 2019 but was canceled just three months later with the tech firm shutting down entirely.

Essential's Project Gem (9to5Google )

Essential's Project Gem (9to5Google )

The team at Essential that helped create PH-1 have formed OSOM Privacy with an aim to create a privacy-focused Android that should launch by early 2021.

Speculations suggest that this change of ownership is about Nothing getting access to Essential's patent catalogue that has numerous patents related to “voice setup instructions” and “voice-enabled home setup”. One of Nothing's major focus areas is going to be smart devices and, as an extension, smart home tech. Access to patents will allow them to develop enhanced tech faster.