First UK multimedia motion mark revealed by IPO on British IP Day

Global corporation Toshiba has found itself at the centre of a landmark legal moment that will feature in the timeline of UK trade mark history. The organisation is the first to have its distinctive multimedia ‘motion’ mark (a moving trade mark) registered under changes to UK trade mark law implemented in January this year.

Whilst it has been possible to register motion marks before this, submissions were required to be illustrated graphically. Under the new system, applicants can now submit their moving, hologram or sound trade mark using a multimedia file.

View the Toshiba registered multimedia motion mark.

Tim Moss, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) said:

Trade marks are likely to become increasingly innovative in the digital age, as organisations explore imaginative ways of reflecting their distinctive brand personalities using creative intellectual property.

Under the amended trade mark law, submission of motion marks, hologram trade marks and sound marks via multimedia format now enables examiners to see exactly what the creator of the mark intended.

Worldwide corporation Toshiba was the first to have its multimedia motion mark registered in the UK under the new system. Based on the art of paper folding known as Origami, the graphic motif was created by the company to reflect the Toshiba brand.

Matt McDowell, Head of Communications, Toshiba Europe, said:

We are thrilled and honoured to be the first brand to legally protect our motion mark in the UK using a multimedia graphic representation. 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.

Toshiba applied for its multimedia motion mark via London based Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, Marks and Clerk.

Jason Chester, Associate and Chartered (UK) and European Trade Mark Attorney at Marks & Clerk said:

The filing of the UK’s first multimedia ‘motion mark’ is a milestone in the history of UK trade mark law and we are proud to have worked with Toshiba to be part of it. The Bass & Co. Pale Ale triangle logo made history when it became the first UK trade mark registration in 1876 and is still in use today. We hope that people are still talking about the Toshiba multimedia motion mark in 142 years’ time, when branding is likely to have taken on further new dimensions.

The UK’s first hologram trade mark has been registered – by Google – under the updated law, but the first sound mark is yet to be registered under the new system.