He has probably done you a favour.
I have previously 'threaded' that I acquired a ABP strap that I fitted to my other recent purchase the Explorer2 and it has continued to be a satisfying combo looks and comfortwise.
However I have noticed that the shiny polished exposed bit of the deployant(deployment?) looks a little scratched when you look close.
So I popped into a local engravers to ask if they could engrave the Rolex crown on that bit similar to on a 'normal' strap.
The chap said he couldn't do it because he may get into trouble for infringing copyright. I didn't push it as the guy seemed a bit of a jobsworth but I am wondering how true that is? There are a lot of crowns around so why would that be a problem? I could understand if I had asked Rolex to be applied as that is obviously incorrect.
What do the panel think?
From another forum, and US-centric, but nevertheless a good summary.
Patents basically protect an idea, a unique way of solving a problem. If you design an innovative new watch complication that nobody else had ever thought of, a radical improvement like the co-axial escapement, a clever new way to seal chrono pushers, you can patent it. A patent technically protects the idea behind a physical object, not the object itself, but when you copy the object you are stealing the idea, which is what makes it illegal. You cannot patent anything having to do with appearance or cosmetics, only function. Patents currently last for 20 years. After that, anybody can use your idea.
Design patents cover the cosmetic/ornamental appearance of a manufactured object, but not its function. The usual example is the shape of the Coke bottle; the curvy shape has nothing to do with its function as a bottle, it's just decorative. Design patents expire after 15 years. Pretty much by definition, all classic watches have long-expired design patents, if they ever had them at all.
Trade dress covers aspects of a manufactured object that are cosmetic and serve as a unique form of branding. Like a design patent, trade dress does not apply to anything functional. Trade dress protection lasts forever, as long as it's kept in regular use. The design patent for the Coke bottle is long-expired, but the unique shape of the bottle is still protected as trade dress because it has such a strong brand association with Coca-Cola. Trade dress protects you from having your competitors copy the superficial appearance of your products or packaging; nobody else can sell drinks in bottles shaped like Coke bottles. Trade dress is the hardest one of these concepts to describe. It's the thing that makes you recognize who made a product, even the first time you see it. A good example would be the 'kidney' grills on a BMW.
Trademarks protect logos and names. They last forever as long as they stay in use, and as long as the owner is vigilant about asserting ownership. I can't start a watch company and call it 'Omega' or use the Greek letter as my logo. I can't name my watch 'Speedmaster' or 'Seamaster.' Speaking of Omega, Constellations were not sold in the U.S. until after 1956, when Omega came to an arrangement with Lockheed over the Constellation trademark (the Lockheed Constellation was a famous and very cool airliner). Similarly, Zenith watches were not sold in the U.S. for many years, until the watch company came to an agreement with an identically-named electronics company.
Copyrights have no application to this discussion about watches, but I often see people using the term inappropriately. A copyright protects things like music, writing, artwork, photographs, movies, plays. You cannot copyright any kind of physical object. A movie is just the images and sound, nothing physical. Physical objects that the movie is on, like a Betamax tape or Blu-ray or a reel of film, are just the container/delivery system. A novel is the words. A recording is the sound. A musical composition is the notes. Nothing physical can be copyrighted.
It would be an infringement of a trade mark.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Declining an invitation to make a fourth rate fake makes you a jobsworth?
It's possibly one of the most famous logos going, so I'd say the jobsworth was right in what he said.
Jobsworth but did you a favour.
Ironic retro 'Rolex' tshirts seem quite popular at the moment it doesn't stop whoever is making them!
its a Rolex Coronet. It's not a Rolex "crown"
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Rolex refer to it as the Rolex Crown, I think they are the best arbiters on the matter.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Think you were lucky, could get in trouble with the police... the bad taste police
And look what I just saw today I nearly stopped and did a citizens arrest
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Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
How do companies who print aftermarket dials get away with not infringing copyright? For example....
http://titanblack.co.uk/collection/rolex
I suppose, but in changing the colour of the logo, Rolex text etc they are reproducing a registered trademark, admittedly over the top of one that is already there.
Presumably they get away with it because before they start with it the dial has a coronet and the word Rolex on it, and after they finish the dial has a coronet and the word Rolex on it: the net effect is nil.
You should get in touch with crown paint and ask if you can have a license to make some limited edition crown paint watches.
Still waiting for your evidence. Anything from Rolex that refers to their logo actually being a crown will do.
My Google fu has so far failed to provide anything as confident as your statement.
From Wiki - A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. By one definition, a coronet differs from a crown in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara does not.
So the question is - does the Rolex logo have any arches?
Last edited by Andyg; 17th August 2017 at 21:57.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Im sorry...
Do you want to engrave the rolex logo on a plain clasp because it had some scratches?
In Scotland there is a well known ice cream company that has shops in Largs,St Andrews etc..which uses a crown/coronet as their logo.Apparently rolex lawyers went after them to stop them using the logo until it was pointed out that they had been using it before rolex existed.....
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I can't be held responsible for your inability to search, but it's surprising you haven't found anything: what criteria did you use?
Tell you what, if I give you evidence that when Rolex pursue a trademark infringement in law they cite the Rolex crown as their trademark will you acknowledge that I'm right?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
^^^ But if Rolex did use 'coronet' then it wouldn't have had to refer to the crown as a 'winding button,' presumably to avoid confusion.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
So A Rolex objection to protect their trademarks where a)Rolex describe as a crown b) provide the trade mark filing (first image) where Rolex call it a crown and c) Rolex submit documents to support their allegations that it's a crown and they win the court case and the judge says "yes indeed that is a rolex crown" isn't enough?
Here's what their own website says:
APPLIQUES
The expressive features of the face
Rolex crown at 12 o’clock, Arabic or Roman numerals, classic or Professional hour markers in geometric shapes or shimmering precious stones in settings – if the dial is the face of the watch, the appliques are the features that give depth to its personality.
Last edited by Alansmithee; 18th August 2017 at 15:13.
I have it on good authority that rolex actually refer to it as the Rolex pointy thing. 😐
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It never is, for him. There's plenty more whereby Rolex have challenged - and won - against others infringing Rolexes trademark but he'll just squirm around the facts.
From one of the many cases heard by the Intellectual Property Office:
But hey, it's only the Head of Communications for Rolex representing them... so that's NO proof that Rolex call it a crown eh?AND THE OPPOSITION THERETO UNDER NO. 103752BY ROLEX SA
16. Only the opponent filed evidence. This takes the form of a witness statement byDavid Cutler, who is the Head of Communications for The Rolex Watch CompanyLimited, an affiliate company of the opponent.
17. Mr Cutler states that the Rolex Crown has been used for over 60 years in relationto watches. He says that the Rolex brand has been the pre-eminent symbol ofperformance and prestige in watch-making for over a century and all watchesmanufactured by the opponent prominently feature the Rolex Crown on the face ofthe watch1, on the winding wheel2, and on the clasp3.
The Rolex Crown is the onlymark used on the exterior of the presentation box which accompanies every watch, on the guarantee card, and on the mounts used in shop windows to display Rolexwatches4.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Probably because that definition is regarding something that's worn on one's head.
No idea what marking terms are, but we got there in the end.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.