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The other shoe drops: PalmOne becomes Palm

The day after David Nagel gave up as CEO of PalmSource, PalmSource announces that it has lost rights to the Palm name; and that PalmOne has acquired them.

Here's the official word from PalmOne - or Palm as we must now call it: "The letters P-A-L-M reflect a prized brand with significant customer awareness and earned loyalty,” said Ed Colligan, palmOne president and chief executive officer.

His release continues: “Innovation, power, ease of use, and elegance all are attributes of the brand, and we intend to invest to turn what is a strong name today into a household word synonymous with leadership in mobile computing.”

Chapter and verse: "palmOne will pay PalmSource $30 million for PalmSource’s 55 percent share of the Palm Trademark Holding Company. Payment will be made in installments over 3.5 years, and palmOne will change its company name to Palm, Inc. later this year."

As part of the agreement, palmOne has granted PalmSource certain rights to Palm trademarks for PalmSource and its licensees for a four-year transition period.

Still no inside track on what this all points to: watch this space...