The first trademark?

Under the Ottoman regime, there was a trademark law in place, comprising of the Distinctive Marks Act 1871 and the Regulation on Trademarks concerning Industrial Products and Commercial Goods 1888. But such marks were registered in Istanbul and are yet to be explored.

The British took over the region in late 1917 and early 1918, and established a military administration, lasting until July 1920, when a High Commissioner was appointed. In 1919, under the military administration, the British published “Public Notice 136, Registration of Trademarks”. The Notice allowed owners of trademarks registered under prior law, namely the Ottoman law, to provisionally reregister their trademark with the British administration. The Reconstructed Registry indicates that there were 45 such marks. Search the Registry for applications XX01-XX45. Most applications were by British companies, suggesting that these were applications submitted during 1918-1919. But we do not have the marks themselves.

The 1921 Trademark Ordinance took effect in January 1922. Search for application No. 1. It was not the first to be registered! The reason is the dynamic management of the British Registry, which is a nice way to say it was a bit of a mess. Initially, the British registered trademarks per class: there was application 1 for class 1, application 1 for class 2, and so on. In 1924, the British decided to change the system, and began registering marks consecutively, irrespective of the class. So far, so good. However, in 1928, they decided to renumber 592 old applications, namely those submitted between 1922 and 1928. For example, application 1 in class 23, SUPERIOR GLACE YARD, owned by J. P. Coats, Ltd. From Scotland, was renumbered as application 144 (in the Reconstructed Registry - application 0144). The application submitted on March 27, 1922 by Alabastine Company (British), Ltd. in class 1, was renumbered as Application No. 1 (now - 0001), but it was not the first! [For more on the methodology of reconstructing the registry, see here]

Searching applications according to the date submitted indicates that the first application during the British period was probably submitted by the Baddour Brothers from Jerusalem, in class 45 – for tobacco, on January 23, 1922. The brothers submitted three applications on the same day, but the marks themselves are not included in the Registry. Based on reviewing other tobacco marks from the period, we assume it used a design and Arabic text. However, it seems that these applications were not completed. Perhaps the brothers did not pay the fee, perhaps they missed some documents. It was a new practice for them – and for the British officers as well.

The first trademark in Hebrew was a trade word, without a design: BEZALEL, by the Artistic Bezalel Workshops, submitted on January 24, 1922, initially receiving number 1 in Class 17, and then renumbered 114 (in the Reconstructed Registry – 0114).