BEST OF THE BEST: Series 1 - Aviators

[sharjt]

The Ray-Ban Aviator has been a trademark since 1937.

Even if "Ray-Ban Aviator" is trademarked it is still NOT the brand name. Only the style name. The brand is still Ray-Ban.

To this day it is touted as the original Aviator and worn by consumers who prefer it to Oakley's more experimental styles.

I agree.

 

[QLR1]

I like the dispatch 2. Aviator looks without the finicky aluminum.

The original Dispatch was sold as an aviator, love it to this day. I may just get a D2 or two. It was one of the frames I didn't care for based on pictures.

 

[kronin323]

I browsed through 15 pages of search results from the Justia trademarks DB without finding anything from Ray Ban. There was this one record from Lux, abandoned due to failure to respond:

AVIATOR Trademark - Serial Number 76295444 :: Justia Trademarks

It doesn't mean the trademark doesn't exist, just that it's not in that database, though...

 

[7legion77]

Even if "Ray-Ban Aviator" is trademarked it is still NOT the brand name. Only the style name. The brand is still Ray-Ban.

Ray-Ban is a company brand. Aviator is a more specified model brand. A brand is any kind of name that differentiates a product from other competing products on the market.

You can find a .PDF from Luxxotica called "History of Ray-Ban" which says that the original line of Ray-Ban had a Large Metal frame called Aviator. Yes, all ads from the time show thay they were simply called "Ray-Ban".
I can't find an official record of when the patent was established. For all I know Luxxotica may be revising the past because this may be a contentious issue.

Anyhow, I was at the store looking for a wire frame to complement my Lifestyles. I was trying to decide between Crosshair and Badman which look somewhat similar. I chose the latter for the more aggressive styling, because most aviator style glasses look fairly generic and don't live up to the old school, iconic look of the original Aviator.
I would contend General MacArthur would not have looked nearly as cool wearing Crosshairs.

 

[kronin323]

Don't get patent confused with trademark.

A patent grants exclusive rights on an invention, as in an object or intellectual property.

A trademark grants exclusive rights of an identifier, such as a word, phrase, logo, symbol, etc.

 

[7legion77]

According to Ray-Ban tech .pdf the anti-glare patent -basically the "original sunglass" with a wire frame and double bridge, teardrop lens was established in 1937 and the first incarnation was the Aviator.
I can't verify exactly when the trademark was made official but it definitely exists now. For the sake of semantics I would call the Ray-Ban models Aviators and anything else aviators or aviator-style.

 

[Rustpot]

Holy sht. As someone who lives and dies by semantics and detests the phrase "you know what I meant" when people try to backtrack on mis-speaking or spelling... I think everyone know what I meant.

Cop shades. Pilot glasses. The style you can buy in every gas station everywhere. The name might be protected to the Ray-Ban offering, but much like Kleenex that name has permeated the lexicon to mean more than just Ray-Ban Brand Aviators.

And the Badman is NOWHERE CLOSE.

 

[7legion77]

Well, there's two mistakes in your post Rusty so that's hardly living and dying by semantics. Anyhow, sorry for hijacking your thread.

My feelings are officially hurt. This forum is full of pompous 'experts' so I will refrain from posting further.

Time to put on my Badman and walk away... enjoy your circle jerk, folks...

 

[supersharp]

Well, there's two mistakes in your post Rusty so that's hardly living and dying by semantics. Anyhow, sorry for hijacking your thread.

My feelings are officially hurt. This forum is full of pompous 'experts' so I will refrain from posting further.

Time to put on my Badman and walk away... enjoy your circle jerk, folks...

WOW! No comment.

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]