Trade Mark Identification

[glo]

Chatty concertinist

 

 

Group: Members

Posts: 445

Joined: 20-August 03

From: Western Massachusetts, USA

Member No.: 85

 

 

 

QUOTE(glo @ Mar 12 2005, 03:13 AM)

I am refurbishing a concertina for a friend. The hinges have a train engine on them with the words "Professional Accordeon" and under that the words "Trade Mark" with the train underneath. I would like to know the origin of this Concertina. It is a box shape.

 

I have attached a photo of the Button Accordeon trade Mark as I received it.

 

Thank You for any help you can give me.

gloria

[Stephen Chambers]

Gloria,

 

The instrument in your photograph is a very typical German accordion/melodeon, of a fairly early model. They were manufactured/exported in very large numbers from the 1870's onwards, and this one was probably made in the 1880's, when corner plates embossed with a brand/trade mark seem to have first appeared, though they may sometimes be more indicative of the merchant for whom the instruments were made than the actual maker.

 

Many of these still have a sound box over the pallets (above the keyboard), an older feature, but I cannot see from your photo if this one does.

[Stephen Chambers]

What is the Origin of a Trade Mark

Gloria,

 

I realise that I am interpretting your question in a much broader sense than you meant it, but it is relevant.

 

The Trade Marks Registration Act was enacted in 1875, and the first Trade Marks Registry in the world opened in London in 1876. An entry in the register of a word or device, i.e. a logo or picture, establishes that it is a trade mark and also who owns it. The registration gives the owner the exclusive right to use the trade mark, and the right to prevent unauthorised use through a legal action for infringement.

 

So anything bearing such a design, with the designation "Trade Mark" cannot be any older than that.

 

Incidentally, the first trade mark ever registered in the United Kingdom was the famous Bass Red Triangle beer label (from my home town of Burton-on-Trent), and it is still in force.