Post by: Charles Owens on December 15, 2011, 03:01:45 PM
"When we first became involved with Mr. Kostler it was an experimental project to assess the bikes and make a decision as to whether it was worth a major investment. Our first trip to visit Germany was the 2nd of October 2007 where, we received a warm welcome upon our arrival and amongst the hours of discussion were told by Axel himself that he had bought Maico in 1999 when the Dutch company "Rodem" went bankrupt, indeed many books openly confirm these facts.
We returned to Germany within two months to purchase more bikes and become involved in laying out ideas for long term development with Mr.Kostler.He was very enthusiastic about becoming business partners but explained he did not have the time to spend on any development, as he was very busy running his shop where he is a K.T.M. dealer. He then proposed that if we were prepared to carry out the research and development he would contribute financially on a fifty percent basis. We instigated a thorough research and development strategy, most of which has been released into the public domain at various stages through press releases although as with any business, there are some aspects which we feel should be kept private.
By this time we already had been supplied with an exclusive distribution contract for the U.K. and non-exclusive distribution for the rest of the world.
As you will know the 2010 bike was released to the media in the January although we had only received excuses from Mr. Kostler as to why he could not supply the funds he had previously agreed to; however at this stage we were far more concerned with the progress and development of the bike.
A few weeks after pictures of the bike had been published we received a telephone call from a man calling himself Siep De-vit who initially posed as an interested customer from Holland, but then revealed he worked for a Mr. Gerit Brouwer who was the real owner of the Maico brand and not Mr. Kostler, and indeed Mr Kostler had never owned the band. Please see attached the registrations certificate and also note that the first registration date under Mr Brouwers name was the 19th of November 1999. Many who know the story will know that Mr. Brouwer was a shareholder in the Rodem Company before its demise. We were naturally shocked by this news as were many other people who had always believed Mr. Kostler owned Maico. We visited Mr. Brouwer's premises in Holland and had a three hour meeting discussing the whole situation with Siep de-vit who was very helpful and provided us with substantial and genuine information on Maico and went into great detail explaining the full circumstances of the Rodem companies situation prior to its bankruptcy even introducing us to member of the original Rodem staff, who now works for Mr Brouwer.
We have more genuine paperwork on Maico and its history than than most people could imagine and can prove far more than the speculation which appears rife on the Internet, however since our meeting in Holland with Siep-De-vit we have been in the process of purchasing the brand name from Mr.Brouwer which has taken far longer than originally expected and as I am sure you can appreciate do not wish to be releasing any new products before this process is complete.
For your interest: Please see below a recent e-mail from Mr.Brouwers solicitor which clearly indicates the position and Mr. Kostlers Attitude towards Maico. Due to the continual internet speculation surrounding our activities and the on-going circumstances we felt it prudent to make no announcement until the process was a little closer to completion."
"Dear Mr. Page,
My client just called me and informed me that the transfer of the trademark can now be finalized. We kindly invite you to complete the requested company details in the attached agreement, duly sign it and return same to me at your earliest convenience.
For your information: client informed me that he spoke to Mr. Köstler from KTM -Kostler Leverkussen, Germany. Mr. Kostler assured that he has no interest in producing MAICO bikes. He furthermore informed my client that he will not produce bikes under this trade mark, without the prior permission of the trademark holder.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
QuestIE Advocatuur B.V.
Rutger van Rompaey"
Post by: nom de guerre on December 15, 2011, 03:17:39 PM
Post by: SachsGS on December 15, 2011, 03:22:15 PM
I wonder why M.I. made the statement (and press releases) that they were the new owners of the Maico brand and that production had been transfered to the U.K. when, in fact, ownership of the trademark still resided in Holland with Brouwer?
Something just doesn't add up here.Why would Brouwer suddenly be concerned about his ownership of the trademark when Koestler had been cranking out Maicos for the last 11 years?
I was at the factory in 1982 and witnessed the dyno testing of the new 83 490 motor.
Post by: nom de guerre on December 15, 2011, 03:47:34 PM
Post by: ford832 on December 15, 2011, 06:51:31 PM
Post by: TMKIWI on December 15, 2011, 08:14:21 PM
Good info Charles.Thanks for posting.That's all it would have taken a year ago for me to let it ride until things get worked out-and to have been a potential customer as well.
X2.
It would be interesting to hear directly from Herr Koestler about this situation.
Something just doesn't add up here.Why would Brouwer suddenly be concerned about his ownership of the trademark when Koestler had been cranking out Maicos for the last 11 years?
Yes why.
Post by: maicoman009 on December 16, 2011, 06:47:17 AM
It would be interesting to hear directly from Herr Koestler about this situation.Thankyou very much for the info Charles! I wish MI would have told us alot sooner though!? I like Sachs also wonder why MI put a press release out stating that they were the new owners of the Maico brand and I also read on MI's site that for some reason they were NOT allowed to build their Maicos with the original red or red & yellow colored graphics? I don't recall why but I did read something about that on MI's site. I kind of thought MI was buying their Maicos off of Kostler from the beginning but was'nt 100% sure? The last time I looked on Kostlers website he still had Maicos for sale but they were just merely the same bikes from 2000 to 2001 with the BNG's...lol. Sad but true! I was glad to see MI's video of the new 380cc. bike considering that Kostler did'nt have any of the 380's on his website for sale. Back in 2005 I spoke to Herr Kostler over the phone & he basically told me in broken english that they stopped building the 380's due to engine problems and @ that time I was interested in a Maico-500 or 380 enduro bike but Herr basically told me if I was going to order one to get one without the lights & blinkers due to the extreme cost of shipping those to the U.S.?$!)<:...And then he basically told me to call back the next day when his brother would be there because he can understand english better. I never called back @ that time due to financial reasons but @ the time was just checking on the prices & shipping cost from Germany.....
I wonder why M.I. made the statement (and press releases) that they were the new owners of the Maico brand and that production had been transfered to the U.K. when, in fact, ownership of the trademark still resided in Holland with Brouwer?
Something just doesn't add up here.Why would Brouwer suddenly be concerned about his ownership of the trademark when Koestler had been cranking out Maicos for the last 11 years?
I was at the factory in 1982 and witnessed the dyno testing of the new 83 490 motor.
Post by: SachsGS on December 16, 2011, 03:07:25 PM
Post by: ford832 on December 16, 2011, 03:11:38 PM
Post by: nom de guerre on December 16, 2011, 03:50:08 PM
Post by: ford832 on December 16, 2011, 06:57:23 PM
...and so do Sachs and TMKIWI 
Post by: TMKIWI on December 17, 2011, 01:04:02 AM
I can do one right now for a small fee on any registered company/Trademark in NZ or OZ.
Or is Europe abit harder.
Post by: Bioflex on December 17, 2011, 11:52:55 AM
Please pass our appreciation onto MI for keeping us in the loop too. While the whole situation is obviously very complicated (hence why we haven't been told of anything for ages) it is great they are now clearing all of this up.