Mercedes- Benz

Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz were born only 60 miles apart in southern Germany. Daimler was born March 17, 1834. A decade later, on November 25, Carl Benz was born. Although they grew up with little in common, both boys were fascinated by machines from an early age. Because their approach to building cars was quite different, it is doubtful, though, that they met or even knew what the other was doing. In 1886, Carl Benz built a motorized tricycle. His first four-wheeler, the Victoria, was built in 1893. The first production car was the 1894 Benz Velo which participated in the first recorded car race, the Paris-Rouen race. In 1895, Benz built his first truck. In 1886, Gottlieb Daimler literally built a horseless carriage. In 1888 Daimler made a business deal with William Steinway (of piano fame) to produce Daimler's products in the US. From 1904 until a fire in 1907, Steinway produced Mercedes passenger cars, Daimler's light trucks, and his engines on Long Island. Ironically, history says Daimler, generally considered to be the father of modern automobiles never liked to drive, if, indeed he ever learned to drive. On March 6, 1990, Daimler died, leaving control of his company to his chief engineer Wilhelm Mayback. By November 22 of that year, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschat had produced a special car for Emil Jellinek. Jellinek named the car after his ten-year-old daughter Mercedes. Lighter and smaller, the new Mercedes had 35 hp and a top speed of 55 mph! The 1903 Parsifil was Benz's answer to Mercedes. A two cylinder vertical engine produced a top speed of 37 mph in this car. Aware of the promotional potential of racing, both Daimler and Benz entered many of them. However, up until 1908, Daimler had overshadowed Benz in racing endeavors. At the 1908 French Grand Prix, Benz took second and third place behind Lautenschlager driving a Mercedes. From that point on, both Benz and Daimler did well in racing. At the beginning of the first world war, both factories were converted into production sites for war materials, although both resumed producing cars after the war.

The Mercedes-Benz logo is one of the most famous brands in the wor;d. The Benz logo is a simplistic three-pointed star that represents its domination of the land, the sea, and the air. The famous three-pointed star was designed by Gottlieb Daimler to show the ability of his motors for land, air and sea-usage. It was first seen on a Daimler in 1909, and was combined with the Benz laurel wreath in 1926 to signify the union of the two firms. Mercedes-Benz is the world's oldest automobile manufacturer. When the patented name "Mercedes" was registered in September 1902 Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft had a successful brand name but still lacked a characteristic trademark. Then Paul and Adolf Daimler - the company founders two sons, and now in charge of the business - remembered that their father had once used a star as a symbol. The image below shows the evolution of the star over the years

Trademark origins

The newly created automobile company, Mercedes-Benz also needed a new image symbolizing their enterprise union. Their iconic three-pointed star is pervasive and unmistakably recognized around the world. But its design has evolved in many ways since the company merged in 1926. One early logo was trademarked in the United States on Friday, August 16, 1929. An application was filed for Mercedes-Benz by Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft of Berlin, Germany with the USPTO. Their application was filed in the primary class of non-metallic building materials and provide a description that included, "automotive vehicles, as follows: passenger cars and freight trucks; parts of and accessories to said vehicles"

The drawing design Mercedes-Benz logo is a registered trademark at the USPTO, and owned by Daimler AG The design of the Mercedes-Benz signature logo was described by the USPTO with three aspects, 1) Stars with three points (Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, Geographical maps Stars, comets), 2)Garlands, wreaths, bands, borders or frames made of plants (Plants Decorations made of plants), and 3) Circular or elliptical seals (Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols Seals). Daimler-Benz elaborates on their use of the new logo and its representations in their 1928 application. Based upon their description, it appears they combined design elements from each automobile company to create a new logo reflecting

each company's legacy. They stated that the trademark was applied to goods in their business since October 1926 with the trademark, "having been used in the business of the applicant's predecessors and in the business of applicant, continuously since the following dates. The word Mercedes since December 1900; the word Benz since July 1896; the representation of a three-pointed star since June 27, 1909, the representation of a wreath of laurel since September, 1909." In their U.S. trademark application, Daimler-Benz stated that their trademark was registered in Germany on the 28th day of August, 1928 with an application date of August 21, 1926. U.S. trademark registration was granted on July 28, 1931. It's current status is registered and renewed with the latest owner listed as Daimler AG of Stuttgart, Germany.

Business alliances In 1958, Mercedes-Benz entered into a distribution agreement with the StudebakerPackard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana (USA), makers of Studebaker and Packard brand automobiles. Under the deal, Studebaker would allow MercedesBenz access to their U.S. dealer network, handle shipments of vehicles to those dealers, and in return receive compensation for each car sold. Studebaker also was permitted to use the German automaker's name in its advertisements, which stressed Studebaker's quality over quantity. When Studebaker entered into informal discussions with Franco-American automaker Facel Vega about offering their Facel Vega Excellence model in the United States, Mercedes-Benz objected to the proposal. Studebaker, which needed Mercedes-Benz distribution payments to help stem heavy losses, dropped further action on the plan. Mercedes-Benz maintained an office within the Studebaker works in South Bend from 1958 to 1963, when Studebaker's U.S. operations ceased. Many U.S Studebaker dealers converted to Mercedes-Benz dealerships at that time. When Studebaker closed its Canadian operation and left the automobile business in 1966, remaining Studebaker dealers had the option to convert their dealerships to Mercedes-Benz dealership agreements.