[78-L] Nipper trademark

[Michael Shoshani]

The thing about Nipper is that he was registered in several places
simultaneously, and his status varies from country to country.

In the United States, there is only one active trademark registration for
the His Master's Voice image - and sound recordings are not part of what it
covers. You can view it at
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71195205&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch
; its registration (which was renewed in 2004, and should be expiring
around 2025 or so unless renewed again) covers the following. Apologies for
the all caps, it's how it's formatted in the registration:

"RADIO APPARATUS, PARTS, AND APPURTENANCES--NAMELY, RADIO RECEIVING SETS,
[SOUND AMPLIFYING HORNS HAVING TELEPHONE RECEIVERS,] LOUD SPEAKERS,
[LOOPS,] [ MICROPHONES, ] RADIO RECEIVING SETS MOUNTED OR CONTAINED IN
CABINETS WITH TALKING MACHINES, RADIO RECEIVING SETS ADAPTED FOR
COMBINATION WITH TALKING MACHINES, RADIO RECEIVING SETS WHEREIN PARTS OF
TALKING MACHINES ARE USED AS PARTS OF RADIO SETS, WHEREIN TALKING MACHINES
ARE USED AS LOUD SPEAKERS, [AND WHEREIN THE SOUND AMPLIFYING HORNS OF
TALKING MACHINES ARE PROVIDED WITH TELEPHONE RECEIVERS AND [ MICROPHONES ];
AND FOR ELECTRICALLY-OPERATED TALKING MACHINES] AND PARTS, SUPPLIES,
[ACCESSORIES,] AND APPORTENANCES THEREFOR--NAMELY, ELECTRIC MOTORS, COILS,
TRANSFORMERS, [ RHEOSTATS, ] ELECTRIC SWITCHES AND ELECTRIC STOP MECHANISMS"

This is currently owned by RCA Trademark Management in France, which would
be Technicolor.

The only other live registration listed under "His Master's Voice" is the
phrase itself, without an accompanying image. This word-mark was registered
last year by Radio Corporation of America in Haddonfield, NJ. Obviously a
ghost company set up to trade on the name. This registration does cover
sound recordings, but only as a wordmark with no image. Its details are at
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86421239&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch

The Nipper image itself is registered by Technicolor for clothing and
sportswear
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86145259&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch

Audio hardware
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85670433&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch

None of these cover sound recordings, though. Records, CDs, tapes, none of
it. Just radios, reproducing equipment, video equipment, etc.

Michael Shoshani
Chicago



On Thu, Sep 1, 2016 at 7:00 AM, Kristjan Saag <saag at telia.com.invalid>
wrote:

>
> Most of your questions seem to be answered here.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Master%27s_Voice
> As for reliability - God knows.
> Kristjan
>
> On 2016-09-01 13:37, Rodger Holtin 78-L wrote:
> > The question of a Columbia as a poor substitute for a Victor in the
> > Florence Foster Jenkins film brought up the use of the Nipper
> > trademark. Is the trademark like a copyright or patent which expire
> > after X number of years? Patents on all things gramophonic have long
> > since expired and thanks to Disney copyrights are now practically
> > permanent in the USA. Has Nipper expired as a trademark or is he so
> > permanent that he will outlive the sale of recordings as we knew them?
> > Will Sony or whoever is the legal successor to that stuff ever rise up
> > and start demanding a royalty on the sale of Nipper's visage over the
> > internet or in flea markets?? Sent from my iPhone, which explainz any
> > bad typjng and nonsensical word choices.
> > _______________________________________________ 78-L mailing list
> > 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>
>
> ---
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>