Fallen Flag - Historic Trademarks

Historic Trademarks

In the case of a merged or purchased railway, the new owner sometimes attempts to enforce the trademarks of the old name in order to collect royalties from model railroad manufacturers. However, this violates trademark law, which requires that marks actually be used by the owner in order to remain protected and not fall into the public domain.

In order to prove that the historic trademarks are still enforceable, some railroads have begun painting pieces of rolling stock in the liveries of their constituent railroads. Whether this is sufficient to prove that the marks have not been abandoned has yet to be decided in court.

Two railroads, specifically Union Pacific and CSX Transportation, have filed suits in U.S. court to prevent the use of their trademarks or their historic trademarks by model manufacturers without first obtaining a license to reproduce the marks. The licensing agreements that the railroads offer include conditions that many model manufacturers feel are excessive in scope or monetary value. Some model manufacturers have signed licensing agreements while others have refused on principle or simply closed their business. Model manufacturers argue that the historic trademarks have been out of use so long that they are abandoned and therefore available to use freely. Courts have yet to decide on these issues.