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Who owns the 'Leica' name? Customers or Shareholders?


aXs

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The LEICA brand

 

Carsten, in another post you asked about (Gero F.) and who will be the next head of Leicas new PR department...

 

Wiebke Deggau

 

The good news: The Leica brand gets a new PR manager, Wiebke Deggau, from the PR and events agency 'BZ.COMM', Frankfurt/M.

 

The agency's clients include a long list of travel and tourism companies - lots of promotions and events - but no previous 'camera' clients.

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

 

 

 

re: LEICA-CAMERA-BERLIN.COM

 

re: <"Steven K. Lee is gone..." permalink #240>

 

LEICA BERLIN

 

carstenw: "...That is a good point about brandname ownership. I never thought it that big a deal, to be honest, and I don't see why ywould go up against your flagship dealer over such an issue. Those who have been to the Leica Camera Berlin store know what a sharp design it has, and it could easily represent Leica..."

 

aXs: as I said, "Martin Meister was in continued conflict with Steven K. Lee - also about the promotion of Meister's newly branded Leica Flagship-store in Berlin.

 

Steven K. Lee wanted the Leica M8 camera to be promoted in-store with more creative activity and photo/art-related projects - and sponsoring events.

 

carstenw: "...far more concerned about smaller places with garbage designs brandishing the LEICA name all over, making for a very unattractive presentation..."

 

aXs: I think you are refering to eBay Leica re-sellers and online shops using the Leica brand name as well as local second-hand camera stores - or private websites?

 

...which comes back to the theme who _really_ owns the LEICA brand name? The customers or the sharholder(s)... in this case the "customer".

 

 

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

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I noted a few Leica PR statement(s) from the new PR department - Wiebke Deggau - regarding the Leica brandname, 'Flagship M8', and stores (see announcements re: 'Flagship-stores' Leica Berlin, (Tokyo and Paris).

 

"...since the departure of Steven Lee, the Leica product development team has begun to review the M system strategy. It is too early to say what changes will be made, however it is likely that the path... differ ...from Steven Lee... the M8 will continue to be [the] flagship camera...

 

We can confirm... comments made [by Steven K. Lee at PMA]... were premature and we apologise..."

 

So, this also confirms the information in Martin Meister's newsletter and posted at LEICA BERLIN (http://www.Leica-camera-berlin.com) was correct - and confirmed previous mistakes by the PR department (Gero F.) made to the Leica brandname .

 

Who owns the rights to use the Leica-camera brandname?

Leica should grant Martin Meister permission (again) to use the Leica brandname "Leica Berlin" as his website URL.

 

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

 

 

 

The LEICA brand

 

Carsten, in another post you asked about (Gero F.) and who will be the next head of Leicas new PR department...

 

Wiebke Deggau

 

The good news: The Leica brand gets a new PR manager, Wiebke Deggau, from the PR and events agency 'BZ.COMM', Frankfurt/M.

 

The agency's clients include a long list of travel and tourism companies - lots of promotions and events - but no previous 'camera' clients.

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

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Axel,

 

What exactly IS the point of this thread? We all know who legally owns the Leica name. Its up to them whether or not they are prepared to allow other parties to use it commercially or not.

 

Maybe the new PR person will have different ideas. Most other manufacturers are equally protective of their name/image so I don't see why all the fuss over Leica.

 

The new shop in London is called 'Red Dot' - I'm guessing they will also use 'official Leica dealer' or some such.

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  • 2 weeks later...

LEICA PARIS

LEICA TOKYO

LEICA BERLIN

 

The Leica brand name and Leica flagship-stores:

 

in todays Handelblatt newspaper (10/3/2008), Andreas Kaufmann, CEO, states "...be assured that everybody here [Leica Camera AG] in Solms follows the LUF-forum discussions quite closely..."

 

Question: will Leica Flagship-stores (Tokyo, Berlin, Paris) be re-granted their use of 'Leica' for their domain names and websites?

 

Do a google search (http://www.google.com) for LEICA BERLIN for example. You will find Martin Meister's website and an artist's project/installation using the Leica M8 sponsored by Leica. You will also find LUF-forum threads. Same for art projects/installations in the Leica flagship-store Tokyo.

 

Kaufmann's main critic regarding Steve K. Lee: "...[Lee's] ever changing stories about the M8..."

 

But I personally think Mr Lee had lots of good ideas for promoting the M8 with creative projects/installations etc - linked to Leica Flagship-stores.

 

 

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

 

 

 

 

 

 

I noted a few Leica PR statement(s) from the new PR department - Wiebke Deggau - regarding the Leica brandname, 'Flagship M8', and stores (see announcements re: 'Flagship-stores' Leica Berlin, (Tokyo and Paris).

 

"...since the departure of Steven Lee, the Leica product development team has begun to review the M system strategy. It is too early to say what changes will be made, however it is likely that the path... differ ...from Steven Lee... the M8 will continue to be [the] flagship camera...

 

We can confirm... comments made [by Steven K. Lee at PMA]... were premature and we apologise..."

 

So, this also confirms the information in Martin Meister's newsletter and posted at LEICA BERLIN (http://www.Leica-camera-berlin.com) was correct - and confirmed previous mistakes by the PR department (Gero F.) made to the Leica brandname .

 

Who owns the rights to use the Leica-camera brandname?

Leica should grant Martin Meister permission (again) to use the Leica brandname "Leica Berlin" as his website URL.

 

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

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Axel,

 

What exactly IS the point of this thread? We all know who legally owns the Leica name. Its up to them whether or not they are prepared to allow other parties to use it commercially or not.

 

Maybe the new PR person will have different ideas. Most other manufacturers are equally protective of their name/image so I don't see why all the fuss over Leica.

 

The new shop in London is called 'Red Dot' - I'm guessing they will also use 'official Leica dealer' or some such.

Couldn't agree more.

 

Steve

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Advertisement (gone after registration)

I'm curious how other members of the Leica Forum react to the fact that many "Leica" domain names are registered (.com, .net, .org) and used internationally - I assume without Leica's approval.

I am also puzzled why Leica Camera AG and/or shareholder(s) haven't taken legal action (and pushed the media) for stopping the "diluting" of the Leica brand name.

 

What do you think? Could any private camera-user/collector, camera re-seller, eBay-reseller - just register "Leica"?

 

Note, the Leica Forum URL domain name was recently changed to http://www.l-camera-forum.com (removing "Leica") for legal reasons.

 

Look at this partial list (.com, .net, .org) and it does not include country specific (.co.uk, .de,. it etc) URL domain names:

LEICA-A-LA-CARTE.COM LEICA-ACADEMY.COM

LEICA-AG.COM LEICA-AKADEMIE.COM LEICA-ALA-CARTE.COM LEICA-ALACARTE.COM

LEICA-ALLIANCE.COM LEICA-AMERA.COM LEICA-AUCTIONEN.COM

LEICA-AUCTIONS.COM LEICA-BASAR.COM LEICA-BINOCULARS.COM

LEICA-BRASIL.COM LEICA-BRASILIEN.COM LEICA-BRAZIL.COM

LEICA-CAEMRA.COM LEICA-CAERA.COM LEICA-CAMEA.COM

LEICA-CAMER.COM LEICA-CAMERA-USA.COM LEICA-CAMERA.COM

LEICA-CAMERA.NET LEICA-CAMERA.ORG LEICA-CAMERAS.COM

LEICA-CAMERAUSA.COM

LEICA-CAMRA.COM LEICA-CAMWRA.COM LEICA-CHILE.COM

LEICA-CLASSICS.COM LEICA-CLUB.COM LEICA-CMAERA.COM LEICA-CMERA.COM

LEICA-COLLECTOR.COM LEICA-CONFOCAL-MICROSCOPY.COM LEICA-CUBA.COM

LEICA-DIGITAL.COM

LEICA-DISCOVERMICROSCOPY.COM LEICA-DISTO.COM LEICA-EAD.COM

LEICA-EM-PREPARATION.COM LEICA-ESHOP.COM

LEICA-EXCHANGE.COM LEICA-FORUM.COM LEICA-FOTO.COM LEICA-FOTOGRAFIE.COM

LEICA-G.COM LEICA-GALLERY.COM LEICA-GALLERY.NET

LEICA-GALLERY.ORG

LEICA-GEOSISTEMS.COM LEICA-GEOSYSTEM.COM

LEICA-GEOSYSTEMS.COM LEICA-GEOSYSTEMS.NET

LEICA-GEOSYSTEMS.ORG LEICA-GEOSYTEMS.COM

LEICA-GIS.COM LEICA-GLOBAL.COM LEICA-GOESYSTEMS.COM

LEICA-GPS.COM

LEICA-HISTO-SOLUTIONS.COM LEICA-ICROSYSTEMS.COM

LEICA-INFO.COM LEICA-INSTRUMENTS.COM

LEICA-INTERNATIONAL.COM LEICA-ITALY.COM

LEICA-JAPAN.NET

LEICA-KONG.NET LEICA-KOREA.COM

LEICA-LIGHT-MICROSCOPY.COM

LEICA-LIGHTMICROSCOPY.COM

LEICA-LOUPES.COM

LEICA-LSG.COM LEICA-LUPE.COM LEICA-M-ALACARTE.COM

LEICA-M3.COM LEICA-MATERIALS-SECTIONING.COM

LEICA-MICEOSYSTEMS.COM

LEICA-MICOSYSTEMS.COM LEICA-MICROSCOPY-IMAGING.COM LEICA-MICROSISTEMAS.COMLEICA-MICROSYSEMS.COM

LEICA-MICROSYSTEM.COM

LEICA-MICROSYSTEMS.COM LEICA-MICROSYSTEMS.NET

LEICA-MICROSYSTEMS.ORG LEICA-MICROSYSTES.COM

LEICA-MICROSYSTMES.COM

LEICA-MICROSYSTMS.COM LEICA-MICROSYTEMS.COM

LEICA-MICROYSTEMS.COM

LEICA-MICRSOYSTEMS.COM LEICA-MICRSYSTEMS.COM

LEICA-MIKROSYSTEME.COM

LEICA-MIKROSYSTEMS.COM LEICA-MIXROSYSTEMS.COM

LEICA-MOCROSYSTEMS.COM LEICA-MP.COM

LEICA-MS.COM LEICA-NRS.COM

LEICA-OBJEKTIVE.COM LEICA-OEM-OPTICS.COM

LEICA-OID.COM LEICA-PASSION.COM

LEICA-PERU.COM LEICA-PHOTO.COM

LEICA-PROJEKTION.COM LEICA-R.COM LEICA-RUSSLAND.COM LEICA-S.COM

LEICA-SEMICONATION.COM LEICA-SEMICONDUCTOR.COM

LEICA-SEMICONDUCTORS.COM LEICA-SERVICE.COM

LEICA-SHOP.COM

LEICA-SHOP.NET LEICA-SISTEM.COM

LEICA-SOCIETY.COM LEICA-SOCIETY.ORG

LEICA-SPECIAL.COM LEICA-STEREOSTAR.COM LEICA-STEREOZOOM.COM

LEICA-SURGICALSCOPES.COM

LEICA-SURVCE.COM LEICA-USA.COM

LEICA-USERS.COM LEICA-USERS.NET

LEICA-USERS.ORG LEICA-VECTRONIX.COM LEICA-WORLD.COM

LEICA-XAMERA.COM LEICA-XYZ.COM LEICA-YH.COM

LEICA.COM LEICA.NET LEICA.ORG LEICA6983.COME-LEICA.COM

ECOMIR-LEICA.COM ICP-LEICA.COM LCP-LEICA.COM

NEW-LEICA.COM

SLOW-LEICA.COM UR-LEICA.COM

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sorry if cut-and-paste text got a bit brokenup <grin>

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

 

It is entirely possible that Leica has authorized them to use the name. Also unless they use the actual logo, there may not be an infringement. Also Leica Camera does not own the name, they license it from I believe Leica Micro Systems.

 

gene

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gene, (grduprey),

 

re: branding new products for new markets and target groups:

 

...entirely possible that Leica... authorized them to use the name... there may not be an infringement... Leica Camera does not own the name... gene

 

There is the follow-up to Handelsblatt article on Leica/Andreas Kaufmann: same newspaper Handelsblatt/Duesseldorf - co-production - with DW-Germany TV for report "Made in Germany: Leica: Focussing on Profit" (broadcast 18.3.2008).

 

News release: ...highly accurate lens made it a highly prized camera for professionals and ambitious hobby photographers...but when digital cameras began their world-wide conquest a decade ago... Leica stuck to film... decision put company in financial difficulties... recently [Leica] entered digital business... owner and CEO, Andreas Kaufmann.. Leica is focussing on new markets and target groups for a profitable future....

 

updated report on Leica Camera AG's "new markets" and "target groups" - DW-Germany TV - we'll see how they handle the topic of branding and the Leica name.

 

Axel

 

Axel Sanders

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