Cartoon TV displaying an image of the Columbia Torch Lady next to a descriptive caption detailing motion of the image — representing a blog post about the Columbia Pictures motion mark trademark registration.

Trademark: Columbia Pictures Motion

First Used: 1993

Registered: 1996

Current Owner: Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. [1]

Trademark Type: non-traditional trademark; motion mark

Primarily Associated With: motion picture film, prerecorded video discs and laser discs featuring full length motion pictures for general release; and digital, analog and microchip based storage and/or retrieval devices in the nature of computer and video equipment in film and disc formats featuring full length motion pictures; motion picture films featuring full length movies for general release downloadable from the Internet [2]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:

The Columbia Pictures motion mark is a significant piece of trademark history – it is one of the oldest, still active motion mark trademark registration in the United States. The Columbia Pictures motion mark was first used in 1993 and registered as a trademark in 1996.

Columbia Pictures started in 1918 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales, and rebranded as Columbia Pictures Corporation in 1924 to signal a more patriotic and professional image. That same impulse shaped its most enduring symbol: the torch-bearing, robe-wearing “Columbia Lady” (also known as the “Torch Lady”). The Columbia Lady made her debut in 1928 as a personification of the United States, similar to the Statue of Liberty. The Columbia Lady Logo evolved over the decades, from a flag-draped figure in black and white to a robed woman in full Technicolor, standing on a pedestal surrounded by dramatic clouds. From the 1930s through the early 1980s, Columbia refined the design but kept the same central image, occasionally experimenting with effects like a sunburst background and stylized animations.

In 1992, Columbia Pictures hired artist Michael Deas to give the Columbia Lady a complete redesign. The studio used his painting as the basis for a new animated logo, which begins with a field of clouds before zooming out to reveal the figure and her torch. That Columbia Pictures motion mark debuted in 1993. While many studios have animated logos, few have registered them as motion marks. The Columbia Pictures motion mark remains one of the best-known and longest-running examples in Hollywood.