1 year, 3 months ago
Who invented the Smiley, and did they make a fortune?
I have always wondered, who invented that cute little smiley face that is used world wide! Is the same person who invented it, also involved with all the :)) and :(( etc. signs? What sort of income, if any, do they have from this invention, or patent. Are they still smiling today at how much they made??
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M$1 Answer
Well, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley ....
"The Happy face was first introduced to popular culture in 1958 when the WMCA radio station in New York ran a competition for the most popular radio show at the time, 'Cousin Brucie'. Listeners who answered their phone 'WMCA Good Guys!', were rewarded with a 'Good Guys!' sweatshirt that incorporated a happy face into its design. Thousands of these sweatshirts were given away during the late 1950s, and soon after, Harvey Ball, an American commercial artist, was employed by an advertising company to create a happy face to be used on buttons."
In 1971, French journalist Franklin Loufrani registered the smiley face image as a trademark in France, despite the proof of its much earlier existence. He created "The Smiley Licensing Corporation, Ltd." to sell, license, and advertise the smiley face in the UK and Europe. In 2001, the name of Loufrani's company was changed to SmileyWorld, which has managed to register the symbol in over 100 countries, not including the USA, for 25 classes of goods and services.
Harvey Ball finally formed his own "World Smile Corporation" in 1999 and began licensing his rendering of the happy face to fund charitable causes.
In 1997, Franklin Loufrani and Smiley World tried to acquire trademark rights to the symbol (and even to the word "smiley") in the United States. This created a conflict between Loufrani and Wal-Mart, which had begun featuring a happy face in its "Rolling Back Prices" campaign more than a year earlier. Wal-Mart tried to block Loufrani's application, then later tried to register the smiley face themselves. Loufrani then sued to stop Wal-Mart's application, and in 2002 the issue went to court, where it languished for years before a decision was made. In 2008,a judge declared that the smiley face is not a "distinctive" mark, and therefore can't be trademarked by anyone, so Wal-Mart had no claim to it.
This and another court decision basically ruled the smiley face--and the words "smiley face"--to be in the public domain within the jurisdiction of the United States. But U.S. court decisions have no effect in other countries, and SmileyWorld continues to claim and enforce trademark rights in much of the rest of the world.
"The Happy face was first introduced to popular culture in 1958 when the WMCA radio station in New York ran a competition for the most popular radio show at the time, 'Cousin Brucie'. Listeners who answered their phone 'WMCA Good Guys!', were rewarded with a 'Good Guys!' sweatshirt that incorporated a happy face into its design. Thousands of these sweatshirts were given away during the late 1950s, and soon after, Harvey Ball, an American commercial artist, was employed by an advertising company to create a happy face to be used on buttons."
In 1971, French journalist Franklin Loufrani registered the smiley face image as a trademark in France, despite the proof of its much earlier existence. He created "The Smiley Licensing Corporation, Ltd." to sell, license, and advertise the smiley face in the UK and Europe. In 2001, the name of Loufrani's company was changed to SmileyWorld, which has managed to register the symbol in over 100 countries, not including the USA, for 25 classes of goods and services.
Harvey Ball finally formed his own "World Smile Corporation" in 1999 and began licensing his rendering of the happy face to fund charitable causes.
In 1997, Franklin Loufrani and Smiley World tried to acquire trademark rights to the symbol (and even to the word "smiley") in the United States. This created a conflict between Loufrani and Wal-Mart, which had begun featuring a happy face in its "Rolling Back Prices" campaign more than a year earlier. Wal-Mart tried to block Loufrani's application, then later tried to register the smiley face themselves. Loufrani then sued to stop Wal-Mart's application, and in 2002 the issue went to court, where it languished for years before a decision was made. In 2008,a judge declared that the smiley face is not a "distinctive" mark, and therefore can't be trademarked by anyone, so Wal-Mart had no claim to it.
This and another court decision basically ruled the smiley face--and the words "smiley face"--to be in the public domain within the jurisdiction of the United States. But U.S. court decisions have no effect in other countries, and SmileyWorld continues to claim and enforce trademark rights in much of the rest of the world.
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M$
Who would guess a little face would create so much conflict and "unhappy faces" !! Great answer, Thanks!