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on Mar 28, 2023 20:02:28 GMT
Last Edit: Mar 28, 2023 20:06:45 GMT by lumiworx
After reading a couple of recent threads dealing with some modern and even digitally related products with "Yashica Europe" branding, I thought I'd do a bit of digging to see if they might still be in business and if they had some online presence with a website and/or product lists or contact info, or anything else. What i ran across was their trademark status, and a bit of a surprise that came along with it.... www.trademarkelite.com/europe/trademark/trademark-detail/009917601/YASHICA-EUROPEAside from Yashica's parent company name and ownership changes over the years, or whatever 'local' company requirements came along with the establishment of production facilities outside of Japan - there are only two international sales/distribution entities I'm aware of that were promoted by Yashica and fell into the timeline from their first year of production in 1949, until 2005 when the official closure notice was made - plus the added details for a further 10 years of warranty and parts/repair services. The first was August, 1957 for Yashica, Inc. (US corporation, in NY, NY), and August, 1961 for Yashica Europe GmbH (Hamburg, Germany). Both of these were noted a Sales and Service organizations, and both were responsible for any sub-offices inside their respective 'territory' for warehouses, service depots, training, advertising, etcetera. I won't include the MF Jebsen Group or Yashica Brazil, as they were both a licensee, and not an owned subsidiary. According to the linked trademark info, Yashica Europe (no GmbH included) filed for registration on April 25, 2011, and subsequently expired on February 25, 2022. The registrant was Globe Distributors, S.L., in Arona Spain (later, in Adeje, Spain), and linked to Globe Distributors LTD, in Notts, U.K. The real surprise is the filing categorization used by the company, as Paper Goods and Printed Material , Advertising, Business & Retail Services. The UK company is listed as 'dissolved' by 2017, with Spain's office still marked as "Active", and the trademark page also notes that a "Trademark Opposition" was filed about 5 months after the original filing, although it doesn't detail who filed it. I've got a feeling about Yashica's (i.e., Kyocera's) actual involvement with any of these branded products as licenced goods at any level. I would only be speculating at best, so I'd suggest using the links here as a starting point if you'd like more background. When the UK's Director resigns after only 8 days in office, I'm more than a little curious, to say the least. |
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on Mar 29, 2023 9:34:58 GMT
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2023 16:55:33 GMT by lumiworx: [corrected link to page]
Thank you lumiworx That's some fascinating information you've dug out of the ether... Concerning the Nottingham-based company, I suspect that for compliance with corporate and anti- money-laundering UK legislation, a UK Director may have been required to register the company in this country. Most interesting to note that the other named individual was an Omani Government Official - perhaps he had responsibility for purchasing paperclips and printing material for his government...  Admittedly, I'm not sure where that left warranty claims on their speakers, memory cards, etc., etc. I wonder if the trademark opposition came from the owners of Yashica.com or the Yashica Innovate brand? Incidentally, I was amused to see what Yashica.com is offering by way of single-use film cameras: check out: www.yashica.com/yashica-moments They're using pages from Yashica brochures of the past (when Yashica truly was Yashica) as the printed decoration for their camera bodies. If that isn't taking the P, I don't know what is... |
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on Mar 29, 2023 17:17:17 GMT
Posted: Mar 29, 2023 17:17:17 GMT
...They're using pages from Yashica brochures of the past (when Yashica truly was Yashica) as the printed decoration for their camera bodies. If that isn't taking the P, I don't know what is... At least it is a film related camera, even so, they have no excuse... but what they did with the " Yashica Lens" is unforgivable, such insult should be penalized by law. |
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on Mar 29, 2023 18:10:08 GMT
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2023 18:12:19 GMT by bobblehat
Was Yashica do Brazil (and later Kyocera Yashica do Brazil) just a licensee?
I grabbed this translation from the Kyocera Yashica do Brazil website getting on 20 years ago .....
Yashica - A History of Excellence
Yashica, which has been producing cameras in Brazil since 1979, was the pioneer in the production of precision photographic cameras.
Kyocera Yashica do Brazil dominates technology for the production of optical parts and fine mechanics, which guarantees the precision and quality of its cameras. These features have been recognized not only by the Brazilian people, who have maintained the company as a leader in the market for years, but also by foreigners, which makes the company proud of being one of the three world suppliers of cameras of the Kyocera Group.
Kyocera Yashica do Brazil
The Yashica cameras, one of the traditional and highly-respected names of the photographic cameras in the world, has been a favourite one in the Brazilian market as well. Some remarkable moments of its presence in Brazil can be seen below:
o - The company, initially named Yashica do Brazil, started its trading activities in Brazil in 1975 with the opening of a subsidiary from Yashica Co., Ltd., for direct trading of its products.
- In 1979, with the restriction to importations policy imposed shortly after, it was decided that the company would be set up in Brazil for good, producing quality photographic cameras in the city of Sorocaba.
- In 1983, as Kyocera Yashica, the company inaugurated the present industrial plant in the same city, introducing a production technology transfer of micro-precision and optical parts non-existent in the country.
Kyocera Yashica do Brazil continues to invest not only in the expansion and modernization of its industrial plant, but also in the development of Brazilian professionals to such an extent that today it can develop its own technology, following the most strict international standards, actively surrounded by all the technological advances in the field.
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I personally think the Brazilian arm of Kyocera does not get the recognition it deserves in the Yashica story. It seems to possibly suffer from lack of research and understanding. YMMV!
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on Mar 29, 2023 18:51:12 GMT
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2023 20:37:02 GMT by lumiworx
I wonder if the trademark opposition came from the owners of Yashica.com or the Yashica Innovate brand? Incidentally, I was amused to see what Yashica.com is offering by way of single-use film cameras: check out: www.yashica.com/yashica-moments They're using pages from Yashica brochures of the past (when Yashica truly was Yashica) as the printed decoration for their camera bodies. If that isn't taking the P, I don't know what is... The opposition could have been anyone with 'standing' if it were registered at the US Trademark office, and I'd assume something similar could apply in this case. Legitimate licensees with then-current agreements and certainly Kyocera itself stood to be impacted. I'd presume that potential damages would be felt among all of them, so it might have been some type of "Et al" submission by more than one claimant as a single action. It's been quite awhile since I've had reason to visit the HK group's site. At first blush, appropriating copyrighted material for use on a for-profit product is dicey if Kyocera didn't specifically assign IP rights to them for advertising materials. I'd be the last one to claim knowledge of what their agreement was, but I've always thought it was limited to use of the name only, and without the transfer of anything else... physical or otherwise. The Yashica company page on Wikipedia labels the deal as "trademark rights were transferred". I'm more than casually aware of US copyright law, and to a lesser extent, Japanese, but with a Hong Kong company there could be core differences, and I'm not sure what's covered. I will say that in the US, trademark rights and copyright protections are definitely not the same thing, regardless of what some may claim. |
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on Mar 29, 2023 19:15:50 GMT
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2023 19:20:54 GMT by lumiworx
Was Yashica do Brazil (and later Kyocera Yashica do Brazil) just a licensee? ---- I personally think the Brazilian arm of Kyocera does not get the recognition it deserves in the Yashica story. It seems to possibly suffer from lack of research and understanding. YMMV! Bob... I'm completely at a loss about their status, and that's why I wanted to defer whatever that might have been with my caveat about "production facilities outside of Japan" - and - I'd include any facilities in Hong Kong along with Brazil. Japanese firms like Yashica just didn't share all that much about any B2B involvement they had, and neither did Kyocera, past whatever few press releases they posted. And, I think you're absolutely correct on both points - it deserves more credit than it's been given, and there's simply so little remaining details left available for those of us who are interested to give it the research attention it takes to offer a well rounded and more complete picture. I'd honestly call you the only expert I'd refer anyone to, since there's so little known. I'm unsure why the depth on information isn't there, although I suppose it could be another case of corporate culture impacting what info was compiled and publicly released, and that level could have been even less than Yashica's. |
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Admittedly, I'm not sure where that left warranty claims on their speakers, memory cards, etc., etc.
