Intel believes that by using his name in the Ghost project, John McAfee wants to suggest an association between his privacy company and the anti-virus company.
British-American computer programmer and crypto enthusiast John McAfee said that California-based tech corporation Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) sued him over his crypto project Ghost. In particular, the company is unhappy about the name of the project — GhostMcAfee.
Intel has sued me over the name “GhostbyMcAfee”.
The buyers of my old company are too foolish to understand that whatever I create only helps their now pitiful product.
Anyway …
“GhostbyJohnMcAfee”, while acceptable, seems clunky.
Any suggestions?
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 22, 2020
John McAfee gained fame for creating the antivirus computer software McAfee. Back in 2010, Intel bought this company for $7.68 billion and renamed McAfee antivirus as Intel Security. Since that acquisition, Intel and John McAfee have been arguing over using his name in various projects.
After selling the antivirus software, John McAfee became the CEO of MGT Capital Investments and wanted to rename the company John McAfee Global Technologies. Intel then warned McAfee that any use of his name would infringe on the company’s trademark. In response, John McAfee sued Intel to prove he still owns his own name.
He said at that time:
“When MGT was renamed John McAfee Global Technologies, Intel sent a cease and desist order claiming they owned my name. In truth, when I formed McAfee Inc I signed over only the name ‘McAfee Antivirus.’ Intel has been illegally using my name for every product that they sell. It never bothered me but now that they are trying to prevent me from using my name I’m pissed off.”
Intel countersued, but a federal district court in Manhattan dismissed both suits. The parties reached a settlement agreement, according to which McAfee can use the name on new projects as long as they don’t involve security-related software, products, or services. As for Intel that owns the McAfee trademark, it no longer can develop antivirus software under that name.
John McAfee and Intel Way Futher
Now, John McAfee is working on the Ghost project that aims to create a privacy-focused, anonymous, and decentralized payment network based on a sustainable proof-of-stake consensus algorithm with incentivized operators. The full name of the project is “GhostbyMcAfee”, which has led to new issues with Intel.
Intel believes that by using such a name, McAfee wants to suggest an association between his privacy company and the anti-virus company. However, John McAfee disagreed and said that he maintains the right to use his full name, John McAfee.
In addition, the crypto enthusiast asked his followers on Twitter to suggest alternative names for the GhostbyMcAfee project. As one user has written, there is ‘no legal sharks swimming around the name of Satoshi Nakamoto’. Therefore, “GhostbySatoshiN” would be an appropriate name for the project.
Daria is an economic student interested in the development of modern technologies. She is eager to know as much as possible about cryptos as she believes they can change our view on finance and the world in general.
