SWCA Update: US Trademarks

[Tommy_Garvey]

So, Chris Georgoulias and I have a bet going on whether or not collectors other than us will care about this. I say "no" and he says "it's not the sort of thing people care about."

In any event, we found all the trademark applications for the vintage figures. It's the paperwork that LFL and Kenner sent into the US government to lay claim to specific names which they intended to use for toys, back in the day. Some surprises too, like an application for Tarkin and Uncle Owen figures for the SW line, the unproduced Gargan figure, and even an "Ewok Celebration Band."

So, Chris added a new Trademarks section to the SWCA's Patents page (scroll down towards the bottom), showing all of this paperwork. I doubt most of you care, but I thought I'd give everyone a head's up anyway, since I still think it's super cool stuff.

Enjoy!
http://theswca.com/images-patents.html

Tommy

 

[ScruffyLookingNH]

*Edit* - Ignore me. I've lost the plot. This is about the TM apps not the Patents which was already there.

Still very cool and still interesting!

 

[jedisearcher]

Interesting that the Jabba TM was filed in 1977. I know it was filmed and then amended for the SE but it would be fun to see the concept for the original humanoid Jabba in action figure form.

 

[Joe]

Man the Archive isn't what it used to be..why can't you guys post something more interesting like a picture of a set of graded 12 backs or something :roll:





















Only joking, these are fantastic - thanks for making them all available on theswca Tommy!

 

[spoons]

Another vote for 'interesting'

Information like this only adds to the hobby - who wouldn't be interested?

 

[spoons]

Tommy - looking through the patents, some are a long time after the fact. In light of the recent thread on the patent pending Landspeeder - why is there such a wait?

For example INT-4's patent is 4 years after it was released.

 

[Tommy_Garvey]

Tommy - looking through the patents, some are a long time after the fact. In light of the recent thread on the patent pending Landspeeder - why is there such a wait?

For example INT-4's patent is 4 years after it was released.

The INT-4 was released in '82, which is when they filed both the trademark and the patent.

For the patents, the filing dates are before the toy is released. That's generally when LFL filed their paperwork. The publication date is just when it was finally approved and published. That can take a long time though, since there are a lot of hoops to jump through. Sometimes the toy was released in the meantime.

For the trademarks, a lot of the dates are just dependent on getting the paperwork filed and such. I don't think it was a situation where they rushed over to the patent office as soon as they came up with a new name for something, I think they probably did it on a regular basis in bulk. You can see that with the Droids figures, where most of them were filed on the same day, just a few months before the toys hit the shelves. US trademark law gives priority to the first person to use the trademark in commerce, not the first to register it. So, Kenner/LFL could sit on their application if they chose, just so long as the toy was actually used in commerce (which Kenner defined as them using it internally during the pre-production process). They still needed to register it, in order to get access to other legal remedies in case of unauthorized use of the mark, but it probably wasn't something that kept them up at night. Generally speaking though, it's still better to register it as soon as you decide to market it under that name. It's just better business and saves a lot of headaches later on.

Tommy

 

[spoons]

Tommy - looking through the patents, some are a long time after the fact. In light of the recent thread on the patent pending Landspeeder - why is there such a wait?

For example INT-4's patent is 4 years after it was released.

The INT-4 was released in '82, which is when they filed both the trademark and the patent.

Tommy

Thanks Tommy very interesting but I always thought the INT-4 was an earlier release. I have a rebate cromalin with an '81' on it. Always assumed that was the date of the rebate's design and assumed the standard INT-4 must have been 1980 or possibly earlier in 81. The trademark on the link says '81 too

Where do you get your release date info? - cue obvious check the SWCA answer

 

[Tommy_Garvey]

Thanks Tommy very interesting but I always thought the INT-4 was an earlier release. I have a rebate cromalin with an '81' on it. Always assumed that was the date of the rebate's design and assumed the standard INT-4 must have been 1980 or possibly earlier in 81. The trademark on the link says '81 too

Where do you get your release date info? - cue obvious check the SWCA answer

Yeah, I was just going by Ron's write-up on it on the SWCA. I honestly don't know. It's advertised as "New!" in the '82 Toy Fair catalog though and I think that's the first time it shows up.

Tommy

 

[spoons]

Might be time for an SWCA update

 

[Richard_H]

I've wasted far too much time going through that paperwork :wink:

I think it's fantastic, I'd love to own the R5 paperwork but will have to settle for a printed copy :lol: