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Article: Zippo presses efforts to take copycats off market
- Article from:
- Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque)
- Article date:
- February 25, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque). Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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BRADFORD, Pa. (AP) - The maker of the Zippo lighter has registered
the classic beveled-edge shape with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, promising to run imitators off the market.
The company is telling manufacturers and vendors of copycat
products to stop by June 30 or face legal action.
"If you see that shape, you say, 'Zippo,"' said Jeff Duke, counsel
for the company founded by George D. Blaisdell in 1932. "It's much
more than just registering a square metal box."
Zippo has produced about 375 million lighters since 1932 and now
churns out about 12 million a year. Its lighters are sheathed with
gold or scrimshaw, and decorated with drawings and symbols that
commemorate everything from ...