I was able to locate two additional documents describing patenting or
trademarking of the Crayola crayon smell.
Sincerely,
Wonko
"But there was one thing that still made the Crayola brand unique,
that almost everyone who grew up with it remembers, and that's the
smell. And it was this invisible component that offered a unique
advantage and proved to be the saviour of the brand.
By deconstructing the ingredients in the crayons that gave them their
distinct smell, a team set about finding the formula that they could
patent, and set their brand apart from skilled imitators."
"That Magic Touch" MediaWeek (April 5, 2005)
http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/articles/folder2005/04/05/featuresportssponsorship
"Crayola had the smell of their crayons trademarked, as they believed
it was an essential part of their brand."
"Brands are alive!" By Cameron Dart (February 2002)
http://www.agcd.com/docs/betterbrandarticles/brands_are_alive.pdf |
Request for Answer Clarification by
lindstrom-ga
on
19 Apr 2005 21:39 PDT
Hi Wonko-ga,
Thanks for your feedback. I would love to rate you but as one out of
the two suggestions were mine I would prefer if you gave it another go
so I can give you a high score and scure you the full fee. Okay with
you or?
All the best,
martin
|
Clarification of Answer by
wonko-ga
on
20 Apr 2005 10:11 PDT
Those were the only other articles I could find despite a lengthy
search. I supplemented the Google search with a search at the United
States Patent and Trademark Office under both patents and trademarks.
I could not find anything specifically relating to Crayola or Binney &
Smith and a crayon smell. The patent office web site did indicate
that smells could be trademarked and provided the example of a
fragrant thread.
If you have any further details about the patent and/or trademark that
I can use to try to find it for you, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Wonko
|
Clarification of Answer by
wonko-ga
on
20 Apr 2005 13:18 PDT
To try to obtain a definitive answer and a lead I could do further
searching on at the patent office website, I contacted the Binney &
Smith corporate offices. I spoke with a representative in the
trademark area. She said that to the best of her knowledge, the
Crayola crayon smell is not trademarked. She said she was less
familiar with their patent portfolio, so she has forwarded my inquiry
to the R&D department. Hopefully I will hear from them in a couple of
days.
As you probably know, there is a big difference between the
protections provided by a trademark and a patent, so this is not a
trivial distinction. Furthermore, given that the original Crayola
crayons have been on public sale for over a century (first sold in
1903), their smell could only have been patented then unless it has
been subsequently modified. Any patent from back then would have long
ago run its course.
As a result of this inquiry, it appears unlikely that the Crayola
crayon smell is trademarked. If you have any evidence suggesting it
ever was trademarked that could guide my searching, please feel free
to provide it.
I will provide additional clarification if I receive a response from
Binney & Smith R&D.
Sincerely,
Wonko
|
