No company now owns the Essential brand, for whatever reason

Nothing, the startup recently launched by former OnePlus executive Carl Pei has acquired the Essential brand, according to a report from 9to5Google citing filings with the UK Intellectual Property Office. The company created by Android creator Andy Rubin after leaving Google has of course been essential. It launched a single smartphone before shutting down due to poor sales performance. The Nothing acquisition, which closed on January 6, 2021, ahead of Pei’s official announcement of Nothing, apparently includes all of Essential’s brands, logo and other brands.

It’s unclear what Pei’s new company plans to do with the Essential brand (or anything else for that matter; information on what exactly Nothing’s product plans are is as scarce as the name. of society itself), but as 9to5Google Note, there isn’t much left outside of the brand at Essential, since the company closed last year. Essential had planned to release a follow-up to the smartphone it brought to market, as well as launch an ambitious new smart home platform, but none of these ever got out of the planning stages and didn’t come out of the planning stages. ‘has obviously been scrapped.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

It’s not clear either Why Nothing would want to acquire the Essential brand, which can be described as “tarnished” after the failed product launch and association with the Rubin name. A 2018 report by The New York Times detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against Rubin during his time at Google; and a massive $ 90 million buyout he received for leaving the company.

9to5Google The article says Nothing will reveal more information about its upcoming products in the near future, so maybe we’ll find out more about what it plans to do with the Essential brand sooner rather than later. We reached out to Nothing to comment on the issue and will update this article if the company responds.