Carl Pei startup Nothing takes over Essential

The Carl Pei Nothing startup has been taken over by Andy Rubin, a former smartphone brand, owned by Essential. Essential was closed more than a year ago due to lack of sales. Nothing, which was released a few weeks ago, was expected to launch smartphones, but it was confirmed that the newly founded company would launch a series of wireless headphones.

According to a Google 9to5 report, the UK Intellectual Property Office has shown that former Android founder Andy Rubin "has signed over ownership of his one-time smartphone entrant Essential to Carl Pei's Nothing Technologies Limited. This process was completed as of January 6, 2021, with the application actually being made as early as November 11, 2020."

The report indicates that Nothing could enter the smartphone market as it has acquired a one-time smartphone maker, but the chances are bleak. Nothing was reported to want to enter the smart home market. That said, the chances of Nothing cannot be ruled out of working on a smartphone.

The 9to5 report states that all trademarks and logos are now intellectual property of the Pei startup. However, it is unclear if Essential's patents will also be owned by Nothing now. Essential was reported to have plans to launch its smart speakers in 2017, but that never made it to the market due to its downfall. So now you can expect Essential to launch the smart hub and speakers under the brand: Nothing.

Carl Pei announced last week that Nothing had raised $ 15 million in Series A funding. "We are happy to announce that we have raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by @GVteam propelling us forward on our journey, "the company tweeted on Tuesday. The company also revealed that the first product the brand will launch would be a pair of wireless headphones. However, Pei also said that he plans to focus on audio products and simpler products to start with.

Pei parted ways with OnePlus last year in October and announced Nothing, which is based in London. Speaking about launching his new company, Nothing, its CEO and founder, Carl Pei, said: "It's been a while since anything interesting happened in tech. It is time for a fresh breeze of change... Nothing's mission is to remove barriers between people and technology to create a seamless digital future. We believe that the best technology is beautiful, yet natural and intuitive to use. When sufficiently advanced, it should fade into the background and feel like nothing."