VODAFONE
Vodafone has been registered in the UK for telecommunications services since the company made the UK's first mobile phone call on 1 January 1985. The name, a portmanteau of 'voice, data, fone', was coined specifically as a trademark. Vodafone grew from a subsidiary of Racal Electronics into one of the world's largest telecoms companies, and the mark became one of the most valuable British-origin trademarks globally.
UK IPO Record
Trademark Classification
Nice Class 38 covers telecommunications. View all Class 38 trademarks and case studies →
Brand History & Trademark Analysis
Racal Telecommunications Group launched the Vodafone brand in January 1985, making the UK's first commercial mobile phone call on the Vodafone network on New Year's Day 1985. The company demerged from Racal Electronics in 1991 and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Vodafone's acquisition of Mannesmann AG in 2000 for $183 billion was the largest corporate takeover in history at that time. The distinctive speech-mark device, a red quotation mark, was registered as a figurative trademark alongside the Vodafone word mark and remains one of the most recognised brand symbols in UK telecommunications.