Does anyone know the relevant law for the UK that covers such things? Like,
if I make a silver necklace I usually put a commercially bought .925 tag on
it, but I want to start stamping my wire worked pieces. Do I have to send
things away to have them done, or can I do them in my own home?
Charlie.
"Peter W.. Rowe," wrote in message
...
This thread got me thinking, and dong some web searching. I came up with
a few
interesting points.
The U.S. law regarding precious metal marking does not require you to mark
karat content
on gold or silver quality on silver, etc. If you choose not to mark it,
however, it
cannot then be represented as such. If you DO mark it, such as stamping
it sterling or
a karat mark, then U.S. law requires, if the articles are subject to
federal law, which
means interstate commerce, that the items ALSO be marked with either a
U.S. registered
trademark, OR the name of the maker. If the latter (your name), then you
don't need to
register your name for it to be legal. But the point is that it is
entirely legal to
sell the work in interstate commerce with no marks at all. Only if you
mark it with the
metal content, does it then also need a trademark or makers name.
Also note that the mark only needs to be permenant enough to reach the end
consumer at
the point of purchase. it is legal to mark a work on the packaging or on
a sales tag,
rather than stamping the item itself. And the method of marking is not
specified, other
than to say it must be legible and reasonably readable by the consumer. A
totally
microscopic marking, or one placed where a consumer cannot find it, does
not fit the
legal requirements. You can stamp it, of course, and because that's fast
and good
looking, is the commercial norm. But engraving it or scribing it, such as
signing your
name with a vibrograver, is also entirely legal. So is plain ballpoint
pen on a hang
tag, so long as the tag stays on it long enough for the end consumer to
get it.
I was unable to find further documentation as to just what constitutes
marking an item
with your name. I suspect your full last name may be enough, but don't
know for sure,
nor whether two or three initials is sufficient. That's of interest
since many
jewelers do exactly that, and have not registered their initials.
A tradmark does not have to be registered for it to be a legal tradmark,
but the
stamping law goes further, and DOES require registration for a trademark
to fit the
requirements on jewelry marking. This is partly of interest since
registering a
trademark seems to require that the trademark already be put in commercial
use in order
to file the registration paperwork. Until the application is actually
approved, and the
mark registered, a trademark is not yet considered "registered". ie, a
pending or filed
registration application is not enough.
I'd suggest continuing to mark your items as you now do, but for these
"interstate"
deals, print up some nice little hang tags that also state the metal
content as well as
your name. They would then satisfy, fully, the federal marking
requirements. If that
store does not believe this, send them this URL, which is one of several
places on the
FTC web site that mentions the option of marking with your actual name,
rather than a
trademark. It's a copy of a letter written by FTC attorneys in response
to someones
inquiry about marking their silver keychain or some such. The FTC site
mentions this
option in several other places, including the actual jewelry marking
guidelines.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/jewel...rs/neilson.pdf
The pertenant part of that letter states;
With respect to your question regarding registering the charm so you can
stamp it with
".925 Sterling," the National Gold and Silver Stamping Act provides, in
pertinent part, that an
article bearing a quality mark or stamp indicating that such article is
made in whole or in part of
gold or silver shall also contain the U.S. registered trademark or the
name of the responsible
party. 15 U.S.C. § 297 (b). Therefore, although you may obtain a
registered trademark to place
on your article, you may also stamp the article "Sterling" as long as
the name of the responsible
party appears next to the quality mark. If you are interested in
obtaining a trademark, you should
call the Trademark Office at (703) 308-9800.
Hope that helps.
Peter Rowe