BRADFORD, Pa.--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 out of the market.
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"If you see that shape, you say, 'Zippo,"' said Jeff Duke, counsel for the company founded by George D. Blaisdell in 1932.
Zippo's lighters are sheathed with gold or scrimshaw, and decorated with commemorations of everything from football teams to moon landings.
Zippo says knockoffs take as much as 30 percent of its business. Some of them are branded with names like "Zipp" or "Zipo," and owners discover they are fake when they send them to Zippo to be repaired. Zippo sends them back unfixed. AP
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"If you see that shape, you say, 'Zippo,"' said Jeff Duke, counsel for the company founded by George D. Blaisdell in 1932.
Zippo's lighters are sheathed with gold or scrimshaw, and decorated with commemorations of everything from football teams to moon landings.
Zippo says knockoffs take as much as 30 percent of its business. Some of them are branded with names like "Zipp" or "Zipo," and owners discover they are fake when they send them to Zippo to be repaired. Zippo sends them back unfixed. AP
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