Background

Mandate Palestine’s Reconstructed Trademark Registry (1917-1948)

Background

Michael Birnhack, Mandate Palestine’s Reconstructed Trademark Registry (1917-1948) (Tel Aviv University, 2023), available at https://en-law.tau.ac.il/MandatePalestineIP

 

The Mandate

The British Government of Palestine was termed Mandate Palestine (see below). It commenced after World War I and lasted until the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. The British assumed responsibility for the region in late 1917 and early 1918, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule. Initially, the British established a military administration, replaced by a civil administration in the summer of 1920, when a High Commissioner was appointed. In 1922, the League of Nations officially entrusted the King of England with the Mandate, lasting until May 15, 1948.

The region covered by the Mandate is depicted in the map below. Initially, it included Transjordan––today’s Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan––but this eastern part of the region was separated administratively in 1923. Note that the Western side covered today’s State of Israel, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, excluding the Golan Heights.

The British Mandate of Palestine

Source: edmaps.com [https://www.edmaps.com/html/about.html]

 

British Trademark Law in Palestine

The British established their laws in numerous fields, replacing most Ottoman laws. This was also the case with trademark legislation.

There was no obligation to register a trademark, and a manufacturer or trader could use a name or a mark without registering it. There were requirements for registering companies’ names but not their products or services. In some specific industries, there were requirements to mark goods; for example, from 1932, citrus for export needed to be marked, but marking did not mean trademarking.

In 1921, the British enacted the Trademark Ordinance, 1921, which took effect on January 1, 1922. Over the years, the Ordinance was amended multiple times, and many regulations and orders were promulgated, but the essence remained.

According to the Ordinance, a trademark was “a mark used upon or in connection with goods to indicate that they are the goods of the proprietor of such trade mark by virtue of manufacture, selection, certification, dealing with or offering for sale.”[1] The trademark owner could apply for registration. The Ordinance required trademarks to "consist of characters, devices or marks or combinations thereof which have distinctive character."[2]  It prohibited registering various kinds of marks, such as those considered "injurious to public order or morality."[3] Applications were reviewed by the Trademark Registrar. Registration lasted for an initial period of 20 years and was renewable.

During the Mandate period, several technical amendments to the Ordinance were introduced. In 1938, the Ordinance was replaced with a new version, which took effect on November 21, 1938. The new version was more detailed, describing additional guidelines and rules concerning the validity of trademarks.[4] The primary change was reducing a trademark’s initial term of protection from 20 to 7 years (with a renewal option of an additional 14 years). Furthermore, the new version replaced the classification of trademarks from a 50-class to a 34-class system.

In 1948, Israel continued all British legislation,[5] and in 1972, Israel introduced a new version of the Trademark Ordinance. Aside from a new translation to Hebrew and minor language changes, the 1972 Order was based on the British ordinances. Over the years, Israel has amended the law multiple times.

 

 

Data

Before beginning, you may wish to check the Methodology section.

The raw data is available here, for your free academic use.

During the Mandate, 9823 applications were submitted, of which 7308 were published during the Mandate, and an additional 596 were published and reviewed by the Israeli Trademark Registrar after the conclusion of the Mandate. The remaining applications were discontinued. The first 45 applications that were registered under the 1919 Notice, and prior to the entering into force of the 1921 Ordinance, contain too little data, and are not included in the figures below.

This section presents the main macro-data relating to the trademarks.

Figure 1 – Trademark Applications Over Time, 1922-1948[6]

 

Figure 2: Applicants’ Country of Origin

Country of Origin	UK	Palestine (Jewish)	US	EU	Germany	Palestine (Arab)	Palestine (Other)	Other	Middle East	Grand Total
No. of TMs	2404	1243	1319	1247	948	261	151	121	165	7859

 

Figure 3: Palestine Jewish-Owned Trademark Applications

Note: The trademark owners were identified in the following manner: We examined local applications from Palestine, and reviewed each for indications of the applicant’s identity. The first criterion was the applicant’s name, which usually sufficed. In case of doubt, we examined the city and address, which was a good indication for most applicants. For the remaining marks, we searched external sources for each application individually. Following these efforts, 74 marks remained unidentified.

 

Figure 4: Palestine Arab-Owned Trademark Applications

[see comment above regarding the identification of the trademark owners]

 

Figure 5: Trademark Applications in the Pharmaceutical Industry

[Based on: Classes 3, 9, 11 {1921 Ordinance}; 5, 10 {1938 Ordinance}]

 

Figure 6: Trademark Applications in the Home Supplies Industry

[Based on classes: 10, 12-16, 36-37, 39, 41, 48-50 {1921 Ordinance}; 3, 8, 11, 14-16, 18, 20-22, 24, 26-28 { Ordinance 1938}]

 

Figure 7: Trademark Applications in the Food Industry

[Based on classes: 42-44 {1921 Ordinance}; 29-33 {1938 Ordinance}]

 

Figure 8: Trademark Applications in Industry

[Based on classes: 1-2, 4-7, 17-20, 40, 46 {1921 Ordinance}; 1-2, 6-7, 13, 17, 19 {1938 Ordinance}]

 

Figure 9: Trademark Applications in the Clothing Industry

[Based on classes: 23-35, 38 {1921 Ordinance}; 23, 25 {1938 Ordinance}]

 

Figure 10: Trademark Applications in the Oil Products Industry

[Based on classes: 47 {1921 Ordinance}; 4 {1938 Ordinance}]

 

Figure 11: Trademark Applications in the Tobacco Industry

[Based on classes: 45 {1921 Ordinance}; 34 {1938 Ordinance}]

 

Figure 12: Trademark Applications in the Transportation Industry

[Based on classes: 22 {1921 Ordinance}; 12 {1938 Ordinance}]

 

Figure 13: Trademark Applications for Professional Tools

[Based on classes: 8, 21 {1921 Ordinance}; 9 {1938 Ordinance}]