News: Sheaffer was not the first to offer a Triumph fountain Pen

[david i]

Sheaffer is well known for having introduced the Triumph family of pens during the 1940’s, pens that featured a conical sheath nib that eventually would take name from the pen becoming known as the Triumph nib.

Turns out Sheaffer was late to the party with the name Triumph.

Just as Waterman’s vaunted Patrician took that name after another pen maker (in this case, Parker) had used it for a pen, it turns out Sheaffer lifted a name that had been used more than a decade before Sheaffer adopted it, offered by another company, nationally distributed as a Gold Bond model offered by Montgomery Ward, the famous catalogue and brick-and-mortar chain store.

I’m pleased to bring this information to the collecting population’s attention.

To learn more about Gold Bond’s Triumph fountain pen, do watch for the next issue of PENnant Magazine, free with subscription to the Pen Collectors of America, in a powerful article written by someone or other, tentatively titled, “Pens From The Monkey Ward Part 2: Of Triumphs and Hercules”

Regards

David

[pajaro]

Was Sheaffer infringing on a patent or copyright by using the Triumph name?

[mrcharlie]

No. If they were infringing on anything by using a name, it would be a Trademark.

[david i]

I cannot answer regarding rights to a name. If the name was not used for about a decade, did rights fade? Did Montgomery Ward not care enough to bother at that point? Did Sheaffer buy the rights? I don't know. I'm still impressed that Waterman managed to release Patrician five years after Parker.

regards

david