YALE
Yale has been registered in the UK for locks, padlocks, and metal security hardware since the nineteenth century. The brand traces to Linus Yale Jr.'s invention of the modern pin tumbler lock in the 1860s.
UK IPO Record
- Application Number
- UK00917998011
- Word Mark
- Yale
- Status
- Registered
- Applied
- 11 December 2018
- Registered
- 26 June 2019
- Next Renewal
- 11 December 2028
- Owner
- Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.,
- Nice Classes
- Class 25
Brand History & Trademark Analysis
Yale has been registered in the UK for locks, padlocks, and metal security hardware since the nineteenth century. The brand traces to Linus Yale Jr.'s invention of the modern pin tumbler lock in the 1860s. The UK operation was established in the Victorian era and the mark became so dominant that 'Yale lock' became generic shorthand for cylinder locks across Britain.
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Historical Background
Linus Yale Jr. invented the pin tumbler cylinder lock in 1861, based on ancient Egyptian principles, and patented the key profile that became the standard for door locks worldwide. The company was formally incorporated in Stamford, Connecticut in 1868 as the Yale Lock Manufacturing Company, a year after Linus Yale Jr.'s death. The Yale trademark reached the UK in the late Victorian period through licenced manufacture. Today the brand is owned by Assa Abloy, the Swedish security group, and operates alongside the Union brand in the UK market. The phrase "Yale lock" has entered lower-case British English as a generic descriptor for rim cylinder locks, though Assa Abloy maintains the registered mark.