landmarks

This page offers a chronology covering the evolution of trademark law and the history of some major marks.

Context is provided by the multi-page communications & media timeline on this site and a more detailed intellectual property chronology.

     beginnings

1040? Weihenstephaner beer and Weltenburger beer (1050?) claimed to be oldest continuously used business marks

1266 earliest English law on marks? - the 'Bakers Marking Law'

1353 English law allows merchants whose goods had been pirated to provide evidence of ownership using marks appearing on the goods

1363 mandatory use of assay and makers mark by English silversmiths

1365 London cutlers obtain protection for their monopoly and their marks in London, requiring registration with city officials.

1373 English ordinance requires bottle-makers to use a 'merchant mark'

1452 earliest UK litigation over merchant mark

1618 Southern v How case considered birth of commercial trademark law in England

1653 Delft porcelain manufacturers adapt (or copy) Chinese ceramic marks

1751 mandatory use of signatures by Parisian furniture makers

1791 after disputes over sail-cloth marks, Thomas Jefferson recommends trademark legislation based on commerce clause of US Constitution

1842 state law in Michigan regarding marks on timber

1846 Nion's Droit civils des auteurs, artistes et inventeurs is first published use of term 'intellectual property' ('propriete intellectuelle')?

     the industrial era

1857 Manufacture and Goods Mark Act in France

1858 Peugot 'lion' mark

1862 trademark laws passed in UK

1870 US trademark legislation, based on copyright clause of Constitution and later repealed

1870 first US trademark granted to Averill Paints

1874 national trademarks legislation in Germany

1874 Nestle registers first trademark in Hong Kong

1875 UK Royal Commission on strengthened copyright protection

1876 Bass brewery registers red triangle logo as first mark under UK registration scheme

1878 International Trademark Association (INTA) founded in US

1879 Eno effervescent salts name in UK

1880 Singer sewing machine mark registered

1881 first US trademark legislation based on Commerce clause

1883 first international trademark agreement - Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

1884 Trademark Law in Japan

1887 Coca-Cola first used as trademark

1887 Johnson & Johnson uses 'red cross' mark (US)

1888 Woodbine cigarette (UK)

1889 Colt mark for firearms (US)

1895 Quaker oats registered (US)

1896 Pepsi-Cola registered (US)

1900 Mercedes registered in US

1901 HMV 'Nipper' trademark in UK

1903 Cadillac registered (US)

1905 Rolls-Royce registered in US

1905 US Trademark Act extends protection to interstate commerce

1905 Trademark Act in Australia establishes Commonwealth trademark regime

1905 Fisons pine tree logo is first registered mark under new Australian Act

1905 Victrola registered

1907 Dictaphone registered

1908 Gillette

1910 Inter-American Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

1910 National Geographic

1911 Vaporub

1913 Chevrolet registered

1914 Paramount Pictures 'Mountain' registered

1915 Fox Film

1919 FIAT registered in US

1920 Burberry check

1920 Electrolux

1920 Band-Aid

1922 RCA

1924 MGM 'Lion'

1926 Movietone

1926 Time magazine

1927 Levi's

1928 Mickey Mouse

1929 Yo-Yo

1931 Alka-Seltzer

1933 Clairol

1933 Firestone

     Lanham and beyond

1946 US Lanham Act passed - foundation of US cybersquatting legislation

1964 McDonald's 'arches' registered

1971 US NBC granted trademark for sequence of notes identifying broadcasting service

1972 Exxon registered

1977 Coca-Cola bottle registered as a three dimensional mark

1984 US Trademark Clarification Act

1984 US Trademark Counterfeiting Act

1984 Advance Australia Logo Protection Act

1987 Owens-Corning granted US trademark for the pink in fibreglass insulation batts

1987 Olympic Insignia Protection Act in Australia

1994 UK Trade Mark Act

1995 Trade Marks Act 1995 provides new definition in Australia

1995 US Federal Trademark & Dilution Act

1995 Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products (US) - colour trademark

1997 United States Patent & Trademark Office considers registration of domain names

1998 US asks World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to conduct consultative study on domain name/trademark issues

1999 WIPO report recommends uniform dispute resolution policy (UDRP) for all registrars in the .com, .net and .org TLDs

1999 ICANN Board accepts the DNSO recommendation for UDRP

1999 WIPO and NAF approved as first dispute-resolution service providers under UDRP

1999 first UDRP proceeding (worldwrestlingfederation.com) commenced

1999 US enacts Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)

2001 WIPO issues interim report on UDRP

2001 Ralf Sieckmann v. Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt dispute about olfactory mark

2002 New Zealand Trademarks Act replaces 1953 legislation

2003 ECJ decision in Davidoff v Gofkid





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