Trademark: Keystone Red Brand Fencing Position

First Used: March 2, 1915

First Registered: May 27, 1919

Current Owner: KEYSTONE CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, INC. (Liberty Steel USA) [1]

Trademark Type: non-traditional trademark; trade dress; position mark

Primarily Associated With: fencing materials

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [2]:

The Keystone Red Brand Fencing mark is a significant piece of trademark history – it is the oldest, still active position mark registration in the United States! Both the position mark, and the word mark RED BRAND®, are registered trademarks still used in connection with fencing materials today.

Peter Sommer was the inventor of the first machine to weave wire into fencing. The resulting weave had a mesh pattern that resembled a keystone, so Peter named his fencing company the Keystone Woven Wire Fence Company. Demand for the new Keystone fences quickly skyrocketed before tough economic times began during World War I. However, a post-war demand for a steel-starved nation ushered in a new era of unprecedented growth for the company.

So, how did the Red Brand and red colored fencing come about? Unfortunately, the exact person and reason for the red color have been lost in time. Keystone wire fence had been manufactured for nearly 35 years when an unknown employee dipped the tops of wired fence and fence posts in red paint. Some stories posit that the red color and position was chosen for practical reasons: the red top served as a visible marker, making it easier for farmers and ranchers to identify the fencing in the field. Other stories posit that the choice was driven by marketing: other fencing manufacturers were catching up on technology and quality and the red coloring could help distinguish Keystone fencing from competitors. This subtle branding was particularly important in rural areas where word-of-mouth and visual recognition were key drivers of product adoption. And still other stories conclude that it was merely a fortuitous accident.

Regardless of the true origins, the red-topped fencing was a huge hit and was quickly rebranded to Red Brand to capitalize on the popularity. The Keystone Red Brand Fencing position mark became a symbol of quality and dependability over time, helping to build brand loyalty and reinforce Red Brand's image as a reliable choice for agricultural fencing.

[1] American Made Steel, LIBERTY STEEL, https://www.kci-corp.com/.

[2] Red Brand, LIBERTY STEEL, available at https://www.kci-corp.com/red-brand/; Standing Guard Since 1889, RED BRAND, available at https://www.redbrand.com/about-red-brand/; Red Brand Fence: A 125 Year American-Made Legacy, THE RED BRAND POST, posted January 18, 2017, and available at https://blog.redbrand.com/cms/red-brand-fence-legacy/; Why The Red Top Wire?, THE RED BRAND POST, posted July 5, 2017, and available at https://blog.redbrand.com/cms/why-red-top-wire/.

[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,938,788, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74617786&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 125,561, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71109939&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 141,481, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71132498&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 297,991, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71327695&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 622,004, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71664320&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,005,747, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74675856&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.