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

Methodology

The following describes the process of reconstructing the registry. Users should take note of several cautionary comments are marked with a  sign.

The raw data is available here, for your free academic uses: 

 

 

Caution in searching!

Beginning

After completing Colonial Copyright (OUP 2012) on copyright history in Mandate Palestine, I turned to trademarks. Whereas copyright subsists in any original work of authorship without registration, for a trademark to enjoy legal protection, it should be registered. Registration is not a license, and traders may and do indeed use unregistered marks. Whereas unregistered marks still enjoy legal protection if their mark is infringed, the relevant tort would have been that of passing-off, unjust enrichment, or consumer protection law. Registering a trademark confers the trademark owner with a presumption of validity and stronger legal protection.

Registration is thus an obvious starting point for trademark history research. However, for Mandate Palestine, the original British registration was lost. The Israeli Patent and Trademark Office (IL-PTO) holds some old notebooks, and as of September 2023, its online search engine contains 1618 trademarks registered during the Mandate period. These trademarks were renewed several times, thus lasting for many years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Of these, 1097 have expired, and 521 were still valid in 2023. However, the IL-PTO’s search engine does not contain the entire Mandate Registry, which was almost five-fold larger.

In light of the above, the original British Mandate Registry needed to be reconstructed. The task was labor-intensive and presented some challenges: The British modified the numbering system during the period, changed the classification of the trademarks, left many applications unpublished, and made several other corrections and changes. The following paragraphs detail how we resolved most of these issues.

Data Collection

The main sources of information were official British publications, where the trademark applications were published, and other related data supplemented by official Israeli publications (1948-1951). The key source was the Official Gazette (OG), renamed the Palestine Gazette (PG) in August 1932. The OG and PG were published weekly, with some deviations from this orderly schedule, throughout the duration of the Mandate. The OG and PG, appearing in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, contained all official matters: drafts of legislation, appointments, land acquisition notices, and much more, as well as trademark applications, notices, and corrections.

Almost the entire corpus of the Gazette is stored at TAU Law Library. It is now also available online, on a commercial subscribers’ service (Nevo) for Hebrew searches and at the Yale Arabic and Middle Eastern Electronic Library (AMEEL) for English searches.

We examined every page of the English versions of the OG and PG published during the Mandate, searching for notices about trademark applications. The earliest OG publication that included trademark applications was on February 15, 1922, six weeks after the entry into force of the Trademark Ordinance 1921.  The final PG with trademark applications appeared on March 25, 1948. On the rare occasion that a publication was missing, we searched for the Hebrew version. Between 1922 and 1936, trademark applications were unevenly published in the OG and PG. From 1936, the applications were published as appendices to the PG; from 1943, the applications were published monthly, and from 1946, the applications were published as a supplement. To our knowledge, we reviewed all OG and PG publications, and none are missing.

 Note! We have the full population of the registered trademark applications; however, as explained below, these do not reflect all applications submitted to the Trademark Office.

The British Trademark Office published numerous technical notices over the years, mostly with corrections and additional information about registered marks. Such notices included, for example, new addresses of the trademark agent and notices about the expiration of marks. We documented all these notices.

596 applications submitted to the British PTO in Palestine were not concluded during the Mandate and were reviewed by the newly formed Israel Trademark Office. We reviewed Israel’s Official Gazette, published from February 1949 to August 16, 1951 (the last Gazette that included Mandate trademarks), and added the data accordingly.

Extracting Data

We mined as much data as possible from each application, as illustrated in Figure 1. The extracted data included the date of application,[1] the number assigned to the application (see detailed comments below), the requested class (see detailed comments below), the applicant’s name and address (including the applicant’s country and, in some cases, the city),[2] in some cases, the trademark agent’s name, date of acceptance (which first appeared in May 1930), the citation to the OG or PG, and the trademark itself. The first publications did not include the trademarks, but from August 15, 1922, all trademarks were included in the applications and publications.

Figure 1: Extracting Data: From this application, we extracted the following:

The assigned number (3249) Class (50) [under the 1921 classification] Specific produce (compound sheets of wood etc.) Applicant’s name (Venesta Limited) Address and country (England) Date of filing (January 8, 1935) Date of publication (July 18, 1935) Trademark agent (Mulford) Trademark: VENESTA.

The original data contain some inconsistencies: For example, applicants’ names were spelled in multiple versions, with or without abbreviations, e.g., “& Brothers”; “& Bro.” or “and brothers”, or ‘Limited” and “Ltd.” We grouped these together, but when the names were different, we retained the data in their original form, e.g., “I.C.I. (Alkali)”, “I.C.I. (Explosives)”. When countries were listed in different forms, e.g., <Netherlands>, and <Holland>, we also grouped them together under one heading (Netherlands, in this example).

Coding Contents

We reviewed every trademark application and examined the trademarks, except for 86 cases in which the application did not include the trademark. We refer to these below. We coded the trademarks, first as to the kind of mark:

• Was the sign a wordmark with no symbols? [e.g., VENESTA in Figure 1 is a wordmark]
• Was the wordmark plain or designed?
• What language(s) appeared in the text?

For the signs that contained a symbol, we coded the contents to the best of our judgment. We conducted training and comparisons to ensure consistency.

For example, see Figure 2:

 

Application Number – 2072 Applicant - Shell Company of Palestine Sign – Design Only Symbol Content Coding - circle; shape; Arab; man; rider; ride; horse; animals; person; mustache; galabia.

Figure 2: Coding symbols

The coding is the basis of the content-based searches in the search engine.

 Note! Coding may be subjective, and we may have made some errors. Please notify us if you notice such errors!

Pre-1922 Trademarks

The British Administration acknowledged the continuity of trademarks registered before the entry into force of the 1921 Ordinance, on January 1, 1922. The legal basis for these applications was prior law, namely the Ottoman Law. As no Ottoman registrations were found, we have only partial data regarding Palestinian Ottoman trademarks: 45 such trademarks were reregistered as British trademarks.

In September 1919, the British military administration, the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (South; OETA South), issued a Notice allowing owners of Ottoman trademarks [more accurately, trademark applications submitted under Ottoman Law) to register their trademark with the British administration provisionally.[3] The trademark owner had to lodge a sworn declaration that the grant had previously been made, include a copy of the trademark, and pay a fee. The British did not republish the reregistered Ottoman trademarks. These marks are included in the database, but they do not contain the trademarks themselves, and for most, much data is missing. We supplemented some data from the Israeli PTO, where found.

Two years later, on January 1, 1922, the Trademark Ordinance 1921 took effect.[4] The Ordinance included a transitional rule for the reregistered Ottoman trademarks. The second paragraph of Section 6 instructed that such marks would be considered as if registered under the 1921 Ordinance, with the date provided under the reregistration.[5] The original term was 20 years,[6] extendable to additional periods of 20 years.[7]

To trace the pre-1922 reregistered marks, we examined administrative notices of 1939 to 1942 (1939 being 20 years after the effective date of the 1919 Notice and 1942 being 20 years after the first British registrations). We found 45 marks not included in the British numbering (see below) but as X1, X2, up to X45 (to fit the search queries, we list them as XX01, XX02, etc.). For one-third of these, the recorded comment was that they were not renewed; for the second third, the comment indicated that they were renewed; for the remaining third, the comment indicated that they were removed from the registration. These 45 notices were published between November 1940 and July 1941. All 45 applicants bore English names, such as The Gramophone Company, John Yates & Co., William Gossage & Sons, or the British-American Tobacco Co.

We thus conclude that 45 applications submitted prior to the entry into force of the 1922 Ordinance were reregistered in the British registry.

 Note! More trademarks may have been registered under Ottoman law but not reregistered under the British system.

 Note! The 45 reregistered marks were not republished; for most, we do not have the original application, but for 10, which we supplemented data from the Israeli PTO..

First Applications

For the first 33 applications, some data is missing: for the first three of these, there was no application number assigned, for eight more, the applicants’ name was missing, for 10 more, the trademark itself is missing. For some of those applications that were assigned a number, the number was reassigned later on, but not for all. From subsequent notices published in the Official Gazette, we figured out that these applications were abandoned – probably the fees were not paid, or not all documents submitted. We numbered these marks as YY01-YY33.

Application Numbers

The British Trademark Office assigned a number to each application. This numbering system is key to counting the number of applications for each year; this is the common means of referring to a specific mark, such as in judicial proceedings.

• Initially, the British assigned applications a number according to their classes. For example, an application by Alabastine Company (British), Ltd., submitted on March 27, 1922, was the first application in Class 1 and was thus numbered as No. 1, Class 1. An application by Henry C. Stephens, Ltd. submitted on the same day was entered as No. 1, Class 39.
• In 1924, the Trademark Office shifted to general, consecutive numbering, irrespective of class.
• In 1928, the Office renumbered all trademarks registered up to that point, comprising 592 renumbered trademarks. Thus, Alabastine’s mark remained No. 1, and Henry C. Stephens’ trademark was renumbered 196.

To address these changes, the database includes both the original and the re-assigned numbers. Both systems can be identified in the search. We added explicit comments about renumbering.

 Note! For the first 592 applications, one should not deduce chronological order from the application numbers. The first three British registered marks were likely submitted by the Badour Brothers from Jerusalem for tobacco products; their application was submitted on February 15, 1922, six weeks after the new Ordinance took effect.

Missing Applications?

Organizing the applications by their registration numbers (including the 592 renumbered marks) indicated a gap. PG’s final issue on March 25, 1948, contained the last application during the Mandate, numbered 9778, submitted on April 27, 1948. However, the registry reconstruction, based on all OG and PG publications, includes only 7904 applications (these include the reregistered 45 marks). Thus, 1919 applications seemed, at first glance, to be missing.[8]

“Missing application” indicates a registry number for which no application was found in the British or the official Israeli publications. For example, there are no applications numbered 5215 and 5216, but applications numbered 5212 and 5217 were identified. To resolve this anomaly, we sorted the applications by their numbers and were thus able to discern how many applications were missing for each year. The shift from the British to the Israeli registration system explains many of the missing applications from 1947 and onwards. Upon examining the Israeli publications, we found 596 applications submitted during the Mandate but reviewed by the now-Israeli Registrar.

For 1922-1924, there were no missing applications. Given the renumbering conducted in 1928, this is not surprising: Had there been any missing applications, the renumbering buried them.

Missing applications are scattered throughout the years. Thus, the sorting ruled out the possibility that we may have missed an OG or PG publication or that the British made some systemic change or error in their registration system.

From 1924, we observed missing applications, as indicated in Table 1 below, ranging from the lowest percentage of missing applications in 1930 (17 missing applications, reflecting 7% of that year’s applications), to the highest, in 1941 (97 missing applications reflecting 43% of that year’s applications).

Table 1: Missing Applications

%	Missing	Found	Total potential TMs	Year
14.67%	11	64	75	1924
9.42%	21	202	223	1925
13.36%	29	188	217	1926
11.48%	31	239	270	1927
9.50%	19	181	200	1928
16.53%	41	207	248	1929
6.91%	17	229	246	1930
11.74%	23	173	196	1931
26.87%	54	147	201	1932
23.27%	57	188	245	1933
19.42%	94	390	484	1934
19.19%	165	695	860	1935
15.51%	65	354	419	1936
17.38%	65	309	374	1937
18.11%	69	312	381	1938
34.38%	88	168	256	1939
25.43%	44	129	173	1940
42.54%	97	131	228	1941
30.16%	76	176	252	1942
21.46%	59	216	275	1943
26.76%	133	364	497	1944
21.31%	130	480	610	1945
17.35%	184	876	1060	1946
24.22%	235	735	970	1947
27.87%	63	163	226	1948 (Jan. – May)

One explanation for missing applications is that they were indeed submitted, and numbers were assigned, but the applicant halted the submission, such as by not paying the fees or not providing the required documents. While we have no external confirmation for this hypothesis, it has a statutory anchor.[9]

An explanation regarding applications submitted close to WWII likely relates to the enactment of the Patents, Designs, Copyright and Trade Marks (Emergency) Ordinance of December 1939. Under this Ordinance, the Registrar received the power to suspend any proceedings.[10] However, the PG publications do not include any notices of such suspensions. This hypothesis is supported by archival resources. In December 1938, the Danish Ministry of Agriculture submitted two trademark applications, which were assigned numbers 5215 and 5216. The applications were pending in the Trademarks Office at the outbreak of the war, and the Registrar suspended them under the Emergency Ordinance. Once the War was over, the Registrar inquired of the Chief Secretary of the Government whether he could accept the application.[11] Applications 5215 and 5216 do not appear in the registration. Moreover, the turbulence in Europe and elsewhere may have meant that some applicants did not survive, and businesses discontinued their applications.

The missing marks of 1947 are due to the Trademark Office’s delay in reviewing the applications: By the time the 1947 applications were examined, the country was at war, and then, in May 1948, the British left the region, and the State of Israel was established. The newly formed independent country adopted most British legislation, including trademark law. Israel formed its own Trademark Office, which received new applications and reviewed pending applications. We searched the official Israeli publications––from February 1949 (the first publication) until August 1951 (the last Gazette that included Mandate trademarks). We found 596 applications that had been submitted to the British PTO but reviewed by the Israeli Office. We added these to the dataset.

The dataset thus includes 7904 applications.

 Note! Thus, the reconstructed Trademark Registry encompasses data only for applications reviewed by the Registrar and not for abandoned or suspended applications.

Classification

Trademarks are registered by class. The challenge in reconstructing the British Mandate Registry was a change instituted in the Mandate’s classification system. The Trademark Ordinance of 1921 included 50 classes (see Table 2). The Trademark Ordinance of 1938 changed the classification system, and the Fourth Schedule of the Trademarks Rules of 1940 included 34 classes (see Table 3). Some old classes were combined while other classes were split; some items were moved from one class to another, and some classes were new. Thus, the final reconstructed registry comprises two periods (1922-1940; 1940-1948). The first includes 4601 applications (ending with application No. 5505), and the second includes 3258 applications.

The classification appearing in the database is that assigned at the time.

 Note! If you search only by class, take care to use the 1921 classification for 1922-1940 and the 1938 classification for 1940-1948.

Table 2: Classes per the Trademark Ordinance 1921 [valid from 1.1.1922 until February 1940]

Class	Class Description	Kind of Products or Services	Total number of applications
1	Chemical substances used in manufactures, photography or philosophical research, and anti-corrosives.	Industry	152
2	Chemical substances used for agricultural, horticultural, veterinary and sanitary purposes.	Industry	115
3	Chemical substances prepared for use in medicine and pharmacy.	Pharma & Medical	791
4	Raw, or partly prepared, vegetable, animal, and mineral substances used in manufactures, not included in other classes.	Industry	55
5	Unwrought and partly wrought metals used in manufactures.	Industry	18
6	Machinery of all kinds and parts of machinery, except agricultural and horticultural machines and their parts included in Class 7.	Industry	123
7	Agricultural and horticultural machines parts of such machinery.	Industry	26
8	Philosophical instruments, scientific instruments and apparatus for useful purposes; instruments and apparatus for teaching.	Professional tools	141
9	Musical instruments.	Pharma & Medical	10
10	Horological instruments.	Home Supplies	18
11	Instruments, apparatus and contrivances, not medicate, for surgical or curative purposes or in relation to the health of men or animals.	Pharma & Medical	90
12	Cutlery and edge tools.	Home Supplies	66
13	Metal goods not included in other classes.	Home Supplies	149
14	Goods of precious metals and jewellery and imitations of such goods and jewellery.	Home Supplies	19
15	Glass.	Home Supplies	20
16	Porcelain and earthenware.	Home Supplies	2
17	Manufactures from mineral and other substances for building or decoration.	Industry	78
18	Engineering, architectural and building contrivances.	Industry	34
19	Arms, ammunition and stores not included in Class 20.	Industry	4
20	Explosive substances.	Industry	11
21	Naval architectural contrivances and naval equipments not included in other classes.	Professional Tools	4
22	Carriages.	Transportation	92
23	(a) Cotton Yarn. (b) Sewing cotton.	Clothing	75
24	Cotton piece goods of all kinds.	Clothing	85
25	Cotton goods not included in other classes.	Clothing	12
26	Linen and hemp yarn and thread.	Clothing	5
27	Linen and hemp piece goods.	Clothing	4
28	Linen and hemp goods no included in other classes.	Clothing	1
29	Jute yarns and tissues, and other articles made of jute not included in other classes.	Clothing	0
30	Silk, spun, thrown or sewing.	Clothing	10
31	Silk piece goods.	Clothing	13
32	Silk goods not included in other classes.	Clothing	0
33	Yarns of wool, worsted or hair.	Clothing	16
34	Cloths and stuffs of wool, worsted or hair.	Clothing	10
35	Woollen and worsted and hair goods not included in other classes.	Clothing	1
36	Carpets, floor-cloth and oil-cloth.	Home supplies	8
37	Leather, skins, unwrought and wrought, and articles made of leather not included in other classes.	Home supplies	16
38	Articles of clothing.	Clothing	148
39	Paper (except paperhangings), stationery and bookbinding.	Home supplies	152
40	Goods manufactured from india-rubber and gutta-percha not included in other classes.	Industry	53
41	Furniture and upholstery.	Home supplies	14
42	Substances used as food or as ingredients in food.	Food	602
43	Fermented liquors and spirits.	Food	162
44	Mineral and aerated waters, natural and artificial, including ginger beer.	Food	61
45	Tobacco, whether manufactured or unmanufactured.	Tobacco	335
46	Seeds for agricultural and horticultural purposes.	Industry	1
47	Candles common soap, detergents; illuminating, heating, or lubricating oils; matches; and starch, blue and other preparations for laundry purposes.	Oil	363
48	Perfumery (including toilet articles, preparations for the teeth and hair and perfumed soap).	Home supplies	228
49	Games of all kinds and sporting articles not included in other classes.	Home supplies	10
50	Miscellaneous:- (1) Goods manufactured from ivory, bone or wood, not included in other classes. (2) Goods manufactured from straw or grass, not included in other classes. (3) Goods manufactured from animal and vegetable substances, not included in other classes. (4) Tobacco pipes. (5) Umbrellas, walking sticks, brushes and combs for the hair. (6) Furniture cream, plate powder. (7) Tarpaulins, tents, rick-cloths, rope (jute or hemp), twine (8) Buttons of all kinds, other than precious metal or imitations thereof. (9) Packing and hose. (10) Other goods not included in the foregoing classes.	Home supplies	198

 

Table 3: Classes per the Trademark Ordinance 1938 [valid from February 1940-1948]

Class	Class Description	Kind of Products or Services	Total
1	Chemical product used in industry, science, photography, agriculture, horticulture, forestry; manures (natural and artificial); fire extinguishing compositions; tempering substances and chemical preparations  for soldiering; chemical substances for preserving foodstuffs; tanning substances; adhesive substances used in industry.	Industry	119
2	Paints, varnishes, lacquers; preservatives against rust and against deterioration of wood; colouring matters, dyestuffs; mordants; resins; metals in foil and powder form for painters and decorators.	Industry	83
3	Bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; cleaning, polishing, scouring and abrasive preparations; soaps, perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions; dentifrices.	Home Supplies	362
4	Industrial oils and grease (other than edible oils and fats and essential oils); lubricants; dust laying and absorbing compositions; fuels (including motor spirit); and illuminants; candles, tapers, nightlights and wicks.	Oil Products	117
5	Pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary substances; children's and invalids' foods; plasters, material for bandaging; material for stopping teeth, dental wax; disinfectants; preparations for killing weeds and destroying vermin.	Pharma & Medical	974
6	Unwrought and partly wrought  common metals; anchors, anvils, bells, rolled and cast building materials; rails and other metallic material, for railway tracks; chains except driving chains for vehicles, cables and wires (non-electric); locksmiths' work; metallic pipes and tubes; safes and cash boxes; steel balls; horseshoes; nails and screws and other goods in non-precious metal no included in other classes; ores.	Industry	49
7	Machines and machine tools; motors (except for vehicles); machine couplings and belting (except for vehicles); large size agricultural implements; incubators.	Industry	62
8	Hand tools and instruments; cutlery, forks and spoons; side arms.	Home Supplies	48
9	Scientific, nautical, surveying and electrical apparatus and instruments (including wireless); photographic, cinematographic, optical, weighing, measuring, signalling, checking (supervision), life-saving and teaching apparatus and instruments; coin or counter-freed apparatus; phonographs; cash registers; calculating machines; fire-extinguishing apparatus.	Professional Tools	125
10	Surgical, medical, dental and veterinary instruments and apparatus (including artificial limbs, eyes and teeth).	Pharma & Medical	34
11	Installations for lighting, heating, steam generating, cooking, refrigerating, drying, ventilating, water supply and sanitary purposes.	Home Supplies	77
12	Vehicles; apparatus for locomotion by land, air or water	Transportation	51
13	Firearms; ammunition and projectiles; explosive substances; fireworks.	Industry	4
14	Precious metals and their alloys and goods in precious metals or coated therewith (except cutlery, forks and spoons); jewellery; precious stones; horology and other chronometric instruments	Home Supplies	32
15	Musical instruments (other than phonographs and wireless apparatus).	Home Supplies	1
16	Paper and paper articles, cardboard articles; printed matter. Newspapers and periodicals, books; book-binding material; photographs; stationery, adhesive materials (stationery); artists' materials, paint brushes; typewriters and office requisites (other than furniture); instructional and teaching materials (other than apparatus); playing cars, (printers') type and cliches (stereotype).	Home Supplies	114
17	Gutta percha, india rubber, balata and substitutes, articles made from these substances and not included in other classes; materials for packing, stopping or insulating; asbestos, mica and their products; hose pipes (non-metallic).	Industry	45
18	Leather and imitations of leather, and articles made from these materials, and not included in other classes; skins, hides; trunks and travelling bags; umbrellas, parasols and walking sticks; whips, harness and saddlery	Home Supplies	16
19	Building materials, natural and artificial stone, cement, lime, mortar, plaster and gravel; pipes of earthenware or cement; road-making materials, asphalt, pitch and bitumen; portable buildings; stone monuments; chimney pots.	Industry	35
20	Furniture, mirrors, picture frames; articles (not included in other classes) consisting of wood, cork, reeds, cane, wicker, horn, borne, ivory, whalebone, shell, amber, mother-of-pearl, meerschaum, celluloid, and substitutes for all these materials.	Home Supplies	24
21	Small hardware and hollow-ware articles (not of precious metal, nor coated therewith); combs and sponges; brushes (other than paint brushes), brush-making materials; instruments and material for cleaning purposes; steelwool; glassware, porcelain and earthenware not included in other classes.	Home Supplies	37
22	Ropes, string, nets, tents, awnings, tarpaulins, sails, sacks; padding or stuffing materials (hair, capoc, feathers, seaweed, etc.); raw fibrous textile materials.	Home Supplies	14
23	Yarns; threads.	Clothing	89
24	Tissues (piece goods); bed and table covers; textile articles no included in other classes.	Home Supplies	113
25	Clothing including boots, shoes and slippers.	Clothing	126
26	Lace and embroidery; ribbands and braid; buttons, press buttons, hooks and eyes; pins and needles; artificial flowers.	Home Supplies	16
27	Carpets, rugs, mats and matting; linoleums and other materials for covering floors; wall hangings (non-textile).	Home Supplies	7
28	Games and playthings; gymnastic and sporting articles; ornaments and decorations for Christmas trees.	Home Supplies	10
29	Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams; eggs, milk and other dairy products; edible oils and fats; preserves, pickles.	Food	97
30	Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, tapioca, sago, coffee substitutes; flour, and preparations made from cereals; bread, biscuits, cakes, pastry and confectionery, ices; honey, treacle; yeast, baking powder; salt, mustard, pepper, vinegar, sauces, spices, ice.	Food	124
31	Agricultural, horticultural and forestry products and grains not included in other classes; living animals; fresh fruits and vegetables; seeds; live plants and flowers; foodstuffs for animals, malt.	Food	13
32	Beer, ale and porter; mineral and aerated waters and other non-alcoholic drinks; syrups and other preparations for making beverages.	Food	68
33	Wines, spirits and liqueurs.	Food	87
34	Tobacco, raw or manufactured; smokers' articles, matches.	Tobacco	85