Addendum 5

“Kroll” as a trademark

In 2015 the Taiwanese company KROLL TI TECHNOLOGY INC. started producing tableware made of pure titanium and marketed it under the trademark “KROLL”. On its homepage the company explains :

‍

The KROLL company owns two trademark registrations in Taiwan for the goods of the following classes :

class 8 : hand tools and implements, hand-operated; cutlery; side arms, except firearms; razors, and

class 21 : household or kitchen utensils and containers; cookware and tableware, except forks, knives and spoons; combs and sponges; brushes, except paintbrushes; brush-making materials; articles for cleaning purposes; unworked or semi-worked glass, except building glass; glassware, porcelain and earthenware

‍ A set consisting of knife, fork and spoon is offered at a price of 99 EUR (status 2020).

Besides the Taiwanese company KROLL TI TECHNOLOGY INC. the word “KROLL” has been registered as a trademark by a number of companies in the most varied fields.

The most relevant registration in connection with titanium and inventor Guillaume KROLL seems to be that of a German company by the name of “Kroll Fine Food GmbH” (founded in 2015) which has acquired the rights for the word mark KROLL in the European Union for some goods of class 21, namely

tableware, cookware and containers

The company’s commercial activities are described as follows :

Der Import und Export, die Veredelung, Produktion sowie der Vertrieb und Handel von Lebensmitteln aller Art, insbesondere Kaffee und Tee, sowie der Handel mit Zubehör und Haushaltswaren.

There is no evidence, however, that the company’s goods are associated with the metal titanium.

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[105] https://www.krollti.com/

[106] TW 01790169 and TW 01895192

[107] classes according to the so-called “Nice classification” used by trademark Offices and professionals