Quote:
|
Originally Posted by heathkit tv
The Peacock as used by NBC (and their affiliates) is a trademark and in order for it to be kept in their legal possession they must "exercise" it by using it in SOME manner.
If a company lapses in the use of a trademark, no matter how well known it may be to the public, it will eventually revert to the public domain. A company can try to argue prior use etc, but often that's a losing battle. Bottom line, NBC may still be using it not so much out of a reverence to past glory, but to keep their legal right to it.
Anthony
|
I didn't know that. I swear, I learn something new every time I visit these forums.
NBC has not used its "snake" logo since 1976 and its early xylophone logo (which predated the snake and of course the peacock, since the xylophone dates back to the network's black/white TV era if not before) hasn't been used since at least the early '60s, so both logos (not to mention RCA's original circular logo) may well be in the public domain by now.
You may be right as to NBC's use of the peacock in the 21st century solely to retain their rights to it, not for nostalgic reasons. NBC is owned by General Electric these days, which probably couldn't care less about the peacock's history or how much it meant to the network from 1956-1976 (even though in the early years, 1926 until the '40s or so, NBC
was partially owned by GE--but then again, GE and NBC were different in those days). Witness the use of RCA's modern logo on today's Thomson-built color televisions. This is used solely as a marketing symbol, the same as the lightning-bolt Z logo is or was used on Gold Star-built televisions. These old logos used on today's electronic equipment are, as you said, just a way for companies to keep from losing their rights to them. If it weren't for that, these logos would have faded into oblivion years ago. This has happened to Magnavox as well, only its logos haven't been used in so long Philips probably couldn't get them back if they wanted to, without a long and drawn-out court battle which they would probably lose anyhow. Witness Magnavox's original logo, with the name "Magnavox" spelled out in upper- and lower-case letters and positioned at the base of the CRT mask on their 1950s-'70s black/white and possibly color sets, and the Magnavox shield. Philips, which now owns what was Magnavox, has decided to abandon those logos altogether; the only reference to Magnavox on today's Philips-built televisions is the name MAGNAVOX, spelled out in all uppercase letters at the base of the CRT mask on the cabinet. As with RCA and Zenith, the Magnavox name means absolutely nothing (except as a marketing tag) nowadays, with no connection or affiliation, etc. whatsoever with the original Magnavox Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The latter has been out of business for years, ever since Philips of the Netherlands acquired the company some time ago.
And so it goes.