Originally posted by BigMackCam Car manufacturers are interesting examples...
Here in the UK, numerous independent brands were acquired by larger multi-nationals over many decades, sometimes changing hands several times. But many of the engines and other components developed under previous ownership continued production, or (more often) were developed further, to be used in cars designed under the new ownership. So, whilst the old companies were either no longer involved or ceased to exist (independently, at least), much of the technology developed by them lived on in newer models. Something of the identity of those brands was retained in both the mechanical and visual designs.
A recent example of this was Vauxhall (in the UK) and its sister brand Opel (in Europe), both of which were latterly part of GM, but acquired by French multi-national PSA Group in 2017 - not simply to use the brand names on entirely unrelated cars, but rather to take what had already been accomplished by GM, make the business more efficient and profitable, and develop the brands and products further from the starting point of the acquisition.
The point is, if a company is bought out and dissolved by another company, its assets and intellectual property changes ownership. A company that has been dissolved cannot own anything, as there is no entity to take ownership any more.
It doesn't matter if the new owners keep making the same or similar products and keep the brand name that they bought, the old company is gone.
This is what happened to Pentax corporation. Hoya bought the company, dissolved it, broke it up into seperate divisions and sold one of those divisions to Ricoh.
Pentax corporate no longer exists and hasn't for about a decade. Pentax as a brand name still exists, but that is not Pentax corporation. That company went out of business.