Two readers have questioned a comment I made about Judge Posner’s remark in Ty v. Perryman that THERMOS no longer functions as a trademark.  Yes, the word mark THERMOS no longer functions as a trademark for vacuum containers for liquids (which is old news).  What I was thinking when I said that the owners of the THERMOS trademark would be distressed by Judge Posner’s remark (but did not elaborate upon), is that unlike the other examples Posner gave, such as BRASSIERE or YO-YO or ASPIRIN, THERMOS is still used as a trading name and trademark by The THERMOS Company, and its stylized THERMOS logo is still readily recognizable as a trademark.  Of course, as was suggested to me,  trademark counsel at Thermos may not distress easy at this point.

Perhaps a better nit to pick with Judge Posner is his assertion that BEANIE is descriptive.

Back in April I asked on the INTA ListServ: “What are the oldest trademarks in the world still in use?”  Now, the INTA Bulletin  (available to members only) is running a two part article on the oldest registered trademarks (slightly different concept).

In Australia, in 1905 a pine tree logo, still in use by Fisons plc. for chemicals, became the first registration there.

In Hong Kong, the first registered trademark was NESTLE’S EAGLE BRAND, granted in 1874, for condensed milk.  It’s still in use (EAGLE condensed milk appears to be owned by Borden in the U.S.).

The first registered trademark in Japan was a design of a seated figure, registered for pills and wound dressings, issued around 1884.

The Bass red triangle logo is of course reg. no. 1 in the UK, registered in 1875 (and reportedly in use since the 1600’s).

The first U.S. registration was granted in 1870 for an eagle logo used for paints by Averill Paints, no longer in use.

The search for the oldest U.S. trademark still in use continues.

Contenders for the oldest continuously used trademark in the world are LOWENBRAU, which claims use since 1383 and STELLA ARTOIS, which claims use since 1366.

Two marks which began life as appellations of origin (there’s that term again), are WIELICKA, used for salt since 1241, and WEIHENSTEPHANER, a German beer, since 1040.

My colleague Roberto Kunz-Hallstein claims that the logo of WELTENBURGER KLOSTER BAROCK DUNKEL has been in use for beer since 1050.

My colleague Brett Doyle argues that S.P.Q.R. should be deemed to be a mark for municipal services, in use for two millenia.

 

Verisign, which still encourages broad ccTLD filing programs as a form of brand protection, and also offers to renew brand owners’ existing portfolios for them, has not renewed NETSOL.CO.UK. (Verisign purchased and re-named Network Solutions, and still maintains netsol.com). The new owner has a sense of humor.  Thanks to Volokh for this.

If you enter VERISIGN.COM as a search term in its whois, Verisign’s namespinner software will indicate that “”Other Names You Might Want” are VERISIGN.TV and VERISIGN.BZ (.BZ is Belize’s country code and Verisign started managing that domain around the time NEulevel was trotting out .BIZ).  Interesting that the names are available.  Perhaps Verisign doesn’t really believe buying lots of ccTLDs you don’t want is necessary.  It is tempting to register VERISIGN.BZ, point it to the blog, and in defense to the demand letter, say “Well, it was your idea.”

Disclosure:  I spent about 15 minutes as GC of a Registrar which pushed huge ccTLD filing programs and was subsequently purchased by Verisign.

Were I to file for TRADEMARK BLOG as a trademark, and if the PTO  were to refuse the application under Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1) on the grounds that TRADEMARK BLOG  merely describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the relevant goods/services, then I would proffer a copy of this article from ABANET.ORG referring to the TRADEMARK BLOG as a popular “blawg.”

Another pop-up lawsuit, this time brought by Weight Watchers regarding a competitor’s use of the WhenU online advertising service.   Via Newsday.

The pop-up, meta-tag and keyword lawsuits will define the boundary of “contextual” or “Targeted” marketing.  The Internet creates amazing opportunities for efficiently reaching a target market.  However problems arise when someone seeks to reach their target market through the use of their competitor’s trademark.