Sharpie
Trademark: Sharpie Logo
First Used: 1964
First Registered: 1966
Current Owner: SANFORD, L.P. (Newell Brands) [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark
Primarily Associated With: marking and writing pens [2]
Generic Phrase: permanent marker, as in SHARPIE® Brand permanent marker
Also A Trademark: SHARPIE® [3], STAINED BY SHARPIE® [4], SHARPIE CLEAR VIEW® [5], SHARPIE EXTREME® [6], and SHARPIE PRO® [7]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [8]:
In 1857, Frederick W. Redington and William H. Sanford, Jr. founded the Sanford Manufacturing Company in Worcester, Massachusetts. Focused initially on ink and glue, the company moved to Chicago in 1866, eventually becoming the Sanford Ink Company in 1940. In 1964, Sanford launched what would become a massive, breakthrough product: the SHARPIE® Fine Point black marker, the first pen-style permanent marker able to write on virtually any surface: glass, stone, wood, metal, plastic, you name it. The concept of a permanent market was so new at the time that early promotional efforts leaned on celebrity endorsers like Johnny Carson and Jack Paar to introduce the public to the notion of what “permanent ink” was.
One of the most fascinating twists in the journey of the Sharpie brand is its embrace by the autograph world. In the 1990s and beyond, Sharpie markers became the de facto tool for celebrities, athletes, and fans alike to sign memorabilia, thanks to bold, fast-drying, durable ink and the ability to write on any surface (e.g., jerseys, balls, photos, helmets, etc.). One iconic moment happened in 2002, when NFL star Terrell Owens famously pulled a Sharpie marker from his sock in the middle of a game to autograph a football after scoring a touchdown. This singular event became both spectacle and marketing gold, giving the brand a huge boost of cultural resonance.
In more recent years, Sharpie has doubled down on its identity as a tool for self-expression, leveraging consumer devotion (some fans can even describe the scent of a fresh Sharpie marker!) and launching campaigns aimed at younger audiences. Today, the Sharpie marker is so famous that even the configuration and color of a standard Sharpie marker is protected as a non-traditional trademark (the Sharpie Marker configuration mark).
Did you know that Sanford, L.P. is also the owner of several other well-known trademarks for office supplies? ELMER’S® [9], ERASERMATE® [10], EXPO® [11], LIQUID PAPER® [12], PAPERMATE® [13], and X-ACTO® [14] are all office supply brands also owned by Sanford, L.P. – find out more about some of these trademarks in future posts!
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[1] Sharpie, https://www.sharpie.com/.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 807,818, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72194243&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,721,523, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78143334&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,994,826, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85009624&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,660,879, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86128371&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,909,604, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86390495&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,156,548, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88580393&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] Sharpie – About Us, SHARPIE, https://www.sharpie.com/about.html; The History of Sharpie, THE ONLINE PEN COMPANY, https://www.theonlinepencompany.com/us/sharpie/history; Sharpie History, GOLDSPOT, https://goldspot.com/pages/sharpie-history; The Evolution of Sharpie: Same Design, Different Focus, KNOWLEDGE AT WHARTON, posted May 1, 2014, and available at https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/evolution-sharpie-design-different-focus/; The History of the Sharpie Marker, MEDIUM, posted December 3, 2014, and available at https://medium.com/the-history-of-office-supplies-and-equipment/the-history-of-the-sharpie-marker-96bf499b70dc; The Sharpie: Its History and Why it is the Main Choice for Signatures and Autograph Collecting, ULTIMATE AUTOGRAPHS, posted January 10, 2025, and available at https://ultimateautographs.com/blogs/news/the-sharpie-its-history-and-why-it-is-the-main-choice-for-signatures-and-autograph-collecting.
[9] See, e.g., USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,389,055, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78972001&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] See, e.g., USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,139,230, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73190188&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[11] See, e.g., USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 7,055,441, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97688793&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[12] See, e.g., USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,128,622, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73168782&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[13] See, e.g., USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 565,961, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71610495&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[14] See, e.g., USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,772,498, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77502049&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.