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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;JewelryPicker, post: 9495369, member: 20513&quot;]It’s a stretch to look at Gorham’s mark and pretend that it’s was completely organic.&nbsp; To me, it clearly mimics the English Birmingham mark with a G date letter.&nbsp; Cartouche shape generally varies by date letter but not always.&nbsp; &nbsp; Nobody has the entire system memorized and&nbsp; furthermore, consider the lack of online resources at the time.&nbsp; IMO, they intentionally copied the English mark at a time when English silver was a prized possession.&nbsp; They even used a LEFT facing Lion until 1868</p><p><br /></p><p>gorham followed by 2 English Birmingham marks for comparison:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]447479[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]447480[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]447481[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Gorham did not always clearly differentiate between coin/sterling and plated.&nbsp; Though it’s true that the Lion-Anchor-G (LAG) would always be accompanied by the words “sterling” or “coin” on silver pieces, they also produced plated pieces with the LAG marking omitting the purity designation.&nbsp; The only indication was a zero (0) to begin item/pattern number stamp.&nbsp; Not exactly an advertisement of composition, and easily mistaken for English silver.</p><p><br /></p><p>eBay, Etsy and an endless list of auction houses are chock full of Gorham items that are being bought and sold as Birmingham Sterling.&nbsp; I would guess that 99.9% are cases of innocent misidentification, but that is kinda my point.&nbsp; Gorham intentionally used a mark similar to an established English mark, so similar that it continues to fool people even today.</p><p><br /></p><p>the fact that Gorham renewed an established&nbsp; 137 year old (in 1990) trademark is not relevant because…well… it had been established for 137 years.&nbsp; I was speaking about trying to register a NEW mark that so closely mimicks and it could be argued, is intentionally deceptive.&nbsp; I understand the British hallmark system is likely not covered by US trademark, but I believe a new mark would be challenged </p><p><br /></p><p>when Gorham devised their mark, there certainty would have been 2 lines of thought:</p><p><br /></p><p>“Wow, that looks too close to an English mark”</p><p>Or</p><p>“Wow, that looks just like an English mark”</p><p><br /></p><p>There was nothing innovative or new about its design, it was an intentional copy of a mark known throughout the world and regarded as the highest of quality[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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