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March 28

TW Kempton

I just bought a bottle of TW Kempton Blood Orange Gin Liqueur from Alko. However, googling for "TW Kempton" brings up https://www.twkempton.co.uk/, which appears to be a clothes manufacturer. Are there two different companies called TW Kempton or is it the same company? And if they are two different companies, are they related? JIP | Talk 19:11, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It might help to know your location. It might help to know what Alko is--on googling; it appears to be a Finnish liquor store. Business registries and copyright records would make quick work of this question. Temerarius (talk) 19:52, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I'm in Finland, and yes, Alko is a Finnish liquor store. JIP | Talk 19:59, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

See Alko. Alansplodge (talk) 20:48, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

TW Kempton (gin) is a brand name used by Intercontinental Brands (ICB) Limited of Harrogate - you have to enter your date of birth to enter their website which is here. The Leicester based clothing manufacturer calls itself TW Kempton (Corporate Clothing) Limited, presumably in an (unsuccessful) attempt to avoid confusion. My guess is that neither company wanted the expense of a legal battle over the name, but who knows? Alansplodge (talk) 21:01, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The TW Kempton, maker of outer knitwear, is probably older than the TW Kempton random intercontinental brand name for gin liqueurs. See this old ad. But is there a risk of confusion? Might someone aiming to buy a ballistic vest accidentally end up with a bottle of blood orange gin liqueur? --Lambiam 21:23, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I don't know about laws in Britain, but here in the US such matching brand names are really only prohibited when there is a reasonable degree of possible confusion by the public. In my state we have Lowes Foods and Lowe's, both were founded and are headquartered in the state. --Khajidha (talk) 21:29, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Those two were started by the same family; the father started the hardware store chain and the son started the grocery store chain. --Jayron 32 18:38, 31 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Interesting. So they are two different companies that just happen to be both named TW Kempton? That's strange, because it seems like an unusual name. Perhaps kind of like Renault the car company and Renault the liquor company just happen to share a name, because Renault is a common surname in France? JIP | Talk 22:11, 28 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It is an unusual name. The brand name for the gin liqueur appears to be recent. Advertizing agency the fabl posted on their Facebook page (March 10): "Intercontinental Brands - ICB approached the team and asked us to help them create branding for their new botanical gin liqueur brand TW Kempton. The team were thrilled to help out and produced some great branding, original illustrations and these fabulous labels! 🍸" The earliest posting on the Facebook page of TW Kempton (the ginny one) is dated November 15, 2019. --Lambiam 12:02, 29 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Trademarks in the UK are registered in 1 or more of 45 classes (which are common to WIPO countries); the classes correspond with different types of good or services. Having a trademark in one class protects mostly in that class (maybe in others, but that's a bigger ask). Searching the UK's Intellectual Property Office only finds one UK trademark with this name, UK00002182722, for class 33 (alcoholic beverages) filed by ICB in November 1998. I can't see a registered trademark for anyone for class 25 (clothing etc.) Lots of businesses, particularly smaller ones, don't protect their name with a trademark registration - it doesn't mean someone could register that trademark for class 25 and extract money from the clothing company. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 21:46, 29 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The firm TW Kempton of Leicester has not trademarked its own name, but holds several trademarks in class 25, such as for their WOOLLY PULLY and MILLER RAYNER. --Lambiam 06:37, 31 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]