A History of Trademarks: from the Ancient World to the 19th Century (2024)

A History of Trademarks: From the Ancient World to the 19th Century

Hi and welcome to International Trademark System Talks, a brand new podcast brought to you by WIPO’s Madrid System Information and Promotion Division. This podcast will give you insights into the International Trademark System, also known as the Madrid System.

My name is Olivier Pierre and I will be your host. We begin our podcast with a series of episodes where we will discuss the history of trademarks, from the middle ages to this present day.

Since ancient times, merchants have been using signs or marks in trade to distinguish their products. Registrations came much later, in the 18th century with the establishment of Intellectual Property Offices.

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss the known history of trademarks from Prehistoric times through the Industrial Revolution, all the way to the Paris Convention of 1883. Let’s start by taking a look at the oldest known evidence of the use of marks in trade by producers and merchants around the globe.

The use of trademarks dates back thousands of years, however we can’t date their origins with precision. Some of the earliest forms of identification of marks date from Prehistory. For instance, the Lascaux cave paintings in France show bulls drawings with marks on them. Experts believe that people were using personal marks to claim ownership of livestock, long before literate societies. That was about 15.000 years ago.

The Egyptian masonry from some 6,000 years ago shows distinguishable quarry marks and stonecutters signs, to identify the source of the stone and the laborer who carried out the work to claim their wages. There were creative entrepreneurs who marketed their goods beyond their localities and sometimes over long distances. Wine amphorae marked with seals were found inside the Tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun who reigned between 1336 a.c. to 1327a.c. over ancient Egypt.

Those seals seem to be the premises of what we now call labels, they indicated: the type of grape of the so-called signature wines, the name of the producer, the quality level and origins of the produce. Archaeologists suggest that there were several prestigious wine areas in Egypt. For instance in the Alexandria area, you could get renowned wine from Antilla which is probably a wine that I will buy today, Taenionic, Mariut, if I say that correctly, please don’t blame me, as well as from valleys further south like Tebaida and Coptos, two of the most recognized areas. There are many more examples of the sort. Over 2,000 years ago, manufacturers from China sold goods bearing their marks in the Mediterranean area and trademarks where merchants could be identified have also been found on pottery, porcelain and swords dating back to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

Moving on to the Middle Ages’ .During the Middle Ages’ flourishing trade the use of signs to distinguish goods, expanded, offering a guarantee on the quality of the goods for trademarks belonging to traders all throughout Europe, for example producers of bells and paper with their watermarks. There were also other signs including house marks that represented a family, an inn, a shop or any other business. They also had appellations of origin (such as in the textile industry).

Evidence suggests that the first piece of trademark legislation was passed in England in 1266 under the reign of King Henry III. It was a set of rules known as “the Assize of Bread and Ale”, which regulated the size, weight and the price of bread as well as the purity of flour to protect consumers. Bakers had to use a distinctive sign to mark their bread, in order for regulators to identify the origins of a loaf.

There are more examples of the development of industrial property in the Middle Ages. For example, a very famous Italian jurist, known as Bartolo da Sassoferrato (1314-1357), authored numerous writings and publications on the topic of trademark law. It was a curiosity for him – he was so popular that he appeared in the Comedia de’ll arte and inspired doctor Bartolo at the opera le Nozze di Figaro from Mozart. For instance, he wrote the treaty Tractatus de Insignis et Armis, where he raised several issues, some of which are still relevant today. In this treaty, he considered the insignia and coat of arms that were borne on banners and shields and commented on whether it was permitted to bear them, and if so, how they were to be painted and borne. A copy of this treaty from the 15th century can be found at the Oxford library today. One more example of a modern trademark registration system can be found during the Renaissance in Italy and was developed by a guild. There are publications that further address this period, notably: “Marks and the Medici: Branding and Trademarks in Renaissance Global Businessfrom the University of York and the “Fourteenth-century register of the marks of metal smiths” at the State Archive in Florence, Italy.

Moving on to the Industrial Revolution and International Exhibitions. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, which is mainly, the transition from manufacture to machine production, the World experienced an explosion in the use of trademarks with the heightened production of goods and the acceleration of international trade. Don’t get me wrong, trademarks already existed before this period. Some of the oldest brands stem from beer manufacturers: the first logo of the Belgian beer “Stella Artois” which happens to be my favorite – drink responsibly however – dates back to 1334; and that of German Beer manufacturer “Lowenbrau”, which claims to have the oldest continuously used trademark in the world has been around since 1383.

Let’s come back to the industrial revolution, a period that some economists call the first globalization, as products were sold far away from their points of origin. French products were sold in India for instance, which made it difficult to identify the manufacturer. As an example, furniture makers in Paris were required to sign their work with a mark. Increasing international trade highlighted the need for more protection for merchants and consumers alike. We have a nice example in the United States of America in 1791. At that time, after having received a petition from a manufacturer of sailcloth in Boston named Samuel Breck,Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson called for Congress to enact on the registration of trademarks. The USA being at its infancy at that time, you can easily imagine that it was not considered a priority and the motion was denied across the country. However, some States opted to pass the law. It wasn’t until 1870 that federal law made it essential for trademarks to be registered.

The 19th century give rise to International Exhibitions thanks to the development of mechanization, railways and steam navigation, which enabled the large-scale production and distribution of products on all continents. The first International Exhibition was held in London in 1851 (The Great Exhibition of All Nations at the Crystal Palace).

Napoleon III, very jealous of the success of the London exhibition organized the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1855 and his very first words during his opening speech were: «J’ouvre avec bonheur ce temple de la paix qui convie tous les peuples à la concorde». "I am happy to open this temple of peace which invites all peoples to the concord” – that was the translation. International Exhibitions helped to establish the status of some renowned brands, such as Baccarat, Christofle, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Tiffany. For example, Patek Philippe presented its products at Universal Exhibitions, and won distinctions that settled both its reputation and the watchmaking excellence of the Swiss region. After the success of the London and Paris exhibitions, the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to organize its own, the World Exposition in Vienna in 1873. As you can see, not a single major nation wanted to miss out on the opportunity to organize its own exhibition. What we like to call in 2021 a massive case of FOMO.

However, some foreign exhibitors refused to attend the International Exhibition of Inventions in Vienna because they were afraid that their ideas would be stolen and exploited commercially in other countries. At that time, in Austria, if a patent right was not executed for a year, it was automatically taken away from its owner. To put foreign exhibitors’ mind at ease, the government passed a special law granting temporary protection to foreign participants for their inventions. That same year, in 1873, the Congress of Vienna for Patent Reform decided to recognize two things: First, that the system of bilateral treaties, which was in force, was clearly inadequate and outdated. Second, that the increasing multilateral cooperation observed in the political field was equally essential for industrial property.

After that, during the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878, an international industrial congress took place and adopted recommendations for different industrial property rights. In this conference, governments decided to convene a future international diplomatic conference “with the task of determining the basis of uniform legislation” in the field of industrial property.

The outcome? The conclusion of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1883. The Paris Convention is the first international agreement on patents for inventions and is one of the pillars of the international industrial property system. What does it cover? The Paris Convention covers industrial property in the broadest sense of the term, including inventions, trademarks and industrial designs. The convention stipulated the principle of equal treatment of domestic and foreign inventors and various rules regarding the filing date in a contracting state. In other words, the Paris Convention was designed to help inventors in one country have their intellectual creations protected in other countries through property rights.

In closing this episode of the podcast, we have seen the evolution of the use of marks since ancient times, and how international trade, fueled by the industrial revolution, revealed the necessity for international measures to protect industrial property. We concluded with the Paris Convention of 1883, which is considered to be the cornerstone for other international cooperation treaties, such as the Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registrations. In the next episode, we will look at the major principles of the Paris Convention, regarding the registration and the protection of trademarks and how these bases led to the Madrid Agreement for the International Registration of Marks in 1891.

This takes us to the end of today’s episode. Thank you for listening and if you have any suggestions or any topic you want us to discuss, just let us know. Subscribe to our podcast to be notified of new episodes. See you in the next episode of International Trademarks System Talks. Olivier Pierre signing off.

A History of Trademarks: from the Ancient World to the 19th Century (2024)
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