UK: First ever ‘motion mark’ granted by Intellectual Property Office
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has granted the first ever multimedia trademark.
Japanese firm Toshiba registered the mark after the UK updated its guidelines earlier this year.
The ‘motion mark’ shows Toshiba’s logo zooming out with polygons representing origami appearing and disappearing around it.
Matt McDowell, the firm’s head of communications for its European operations, said the company was “thrilled and honoured” to have been granted the first multimedia mark in the UK.
Mr McDowell added: “The Toshiba brand is synonymous with innovation and reliability and this initiative further demonstrates that our brand identity guides the business in both our communications and our behaviours in delivering our brand promise.
“As a forward-looking and entrepreneurial company, we have developed a new brand identity that provides a strong and consistent framework for all communication. This is more than just a refreshed logo. Our communication strategy is a content-centric, digital first strategy, and because of this, we believed it was essential to trademark all aspects of the brand, including our motion mark.”
Tim Moss, UKIPO CEO, said: “Trademarks are likely to become increasingly innovative in the digital age, as organisations explore imaginative ways of reflecting their distinctive brand personalities using creative IP.
“Under the amended trademark law, submission of motion marks, hologram trademarks and sound marks via multimedia format now enables examiners to see exactly what the creator of the mark intended.”