# Oldest common law trademark still in use

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-common-law-trademark-still-in-use/809350>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 22, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-common-law-trademark-still-in-use/809350 "2018-02-22T17:33:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-common-law-trademark-still-in-use/809350/21 "2018-02-26T05:11:34Z")

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> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> What about the arms of the London guilds? Could they be considered trademarks?

Yes, I think, if we stretch the term a little. Nowadays a trademark like the Heinz ‘57’ is used to distinguish Heinz produce from the otherwise similar produce of others. Whereas all the members of the livery company/guild could use the company arms or badge. But, still, the idea was that being a member of a livery company or guild was an assurance of quality, so the mark was used to distinguish goods produced by a recognised, qualified master of the trade concerned from goods produced by someone without that recognition or qualification. So, yeah, kind of a shared trademark.

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