Bass Red Triangle registered as first UK trademark

Legislative Framework. The Trade Marks Registration Act 1875 allowed formal registration of trade marks at the UK Patent Office for the first time. Registration was considered prima facie evidence of ownership. The Act defined registrable marks as devices, marks, names, signatures, or distinctive labels. Any word or name in use as a trade mark before August 1875 was entitled to registration, regardless of whether it fulfilled the new criteria.

Commercial Identity. A trade mark provides a product or organisation with an identity which cannot be imitated by its competitors. The Bass Red Triangle served as this distinguishing symbol for Bass pale ale. By 1877, Bass was the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels, and its pale ale was exported throughout the British Empire. The red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.

First Registration. Registration of marks began on 1 January 1876. The first trade mark to be registered was the red triangle of the Bass Brewery. Legend states that a Bass employee queued overnight outside the registrar's office on New Year's Eve to be first in line. Consequently, Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Limited received the first six registrations, including the Red Triangle for pale ale.