RCA (trademark)

Last updated
RCA Trademark Management S.A.
RCA Electronics logo.svg
The RCA logo introduced in 1968
JohnAndretti1997Pocono.jpg
The #98 RCA Ford Thunderbird, seen here driven by John Andretti at Pocono in 1997.
Product typeTrademark
OwnerTalisman Brands
Sony Music Entertainment
Country United States
Introduced1919;105 years ago (1919)
Related brands RCA Records
RCA Lyra
RCA Telephones
RCA Audio/Video
RCA Accessories
RCA Televisions
RCA Car Stereo
RCA Appliances
RCA Computers
RCA Computer Tablets
RCA Projectors
RCA Digital TV Box
MarketsWorldwide
Previous owners General Electric
Technicolor SA
Website rca.com

RCA is an American multinational trademark brand owned by Talisman Brands, Inc. [1] which is used on products made by that company as well as Sony Music Entertainment, Voxx International and ON Corporation. 'RCA' is an abbreviation for the Radio Corporation of America, founded in 1919. The company became known as the RCA Corporation in 1969. RCA was purchased by General Electric in 1986 and its various divisions and assets were then liquidated.

Contents

Current users

At present, the RCA trademark is owned by Talisman Brand, Inc. (d/b/a Established.) since 2022, [2] Though it generally no longer uses the brand directly, Talisman Brand licenses the RCA trademark to other companies for use on various products along 10 different product lines:

BMG (for the record labels) and Thomson (for the remaining businesses) bought those assets from General Electric, which took over the RCA Corporation in 1986 and kept RCA's NBC broadcast television interests (GE sold off the NBC Radio Network and the NBC-owned radio stations). Initially, GE continued to own the RCA trademarks (including the His Master's Voice/Nipper and Victor/Victrola trademarks which were then licensed to Thomson and Bertelsmann Music Group. Thomson eventually purchased the rights to the RCA trademarks from GE in 2003 [14] subject to the perpetual license GE had issued to BMG.

In December 2006, Thomson SA agreed to sell its consumer electronics accessory business, including rights to use the RCA name for consumer electronic accessories, to Audiovox [15]

On October 16, 2007, Thomson SA agreed to sell its consumer electronics audio video business outside Europe including the worldwide rights to the RCA Brand for consumer electronics audio video products [16]

In April 2010, ON Corporation took over distribution of RCA branded TVs. [17]

Bertelsmann AG was new to the RCA family (though the creation of Sony BMG is similar to that of EMI more than 70 years earlier). Sony took full ownership of Sony BMG in 2008 and the record company was renamed Sony Music. Thomson started as the French subsidiary of Thomson-Houston Electric, a company which later evolved into General Electric.

In 2022, Technicolor sold the trademark and licensing rights to the RCA brand and logos to Talisman Brands, Inc. [18]

Sponsorship

RCA sponsored the Argentinian football club San Lorenzo de Almagro from 2005 until 2007, and the Argentinian football club Estudiantes de La Plata from 2008 to mid-2011. It currently sponsors Racing, another first division Argentinean football club.

In the mid-1990s, RCA bought the naming rights to the Hoosier Dome (the original home of the Indianapolis Colts). The stadium became the RCA Dome and was known as such until it was demolished in December 2008 when the Colts departed for the new Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center was expanded onto the RCA Dome footprint.

RCA was the main sponsor for the No. 98 Cale Yarborough Motorsports team in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series with drivers Jeremy Mayfield from 1995-1996 and with John Andretti in 1997. They appeared on the No. 00 Quin Houff in 2021 as a throwback to the above mentioned No. 98 car.

Related Research Articles

The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company. In 1932, RCA became an independent company after the partners were required to divest their ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit.

Magnavox was an American electronics company. It was purchased by North American Philips in 1974, which was absorbed into Dutch electronics company Philips in 1991. The predecessor to Magnavox was founded in 1911 by Edwin Pridham and Peter L. Jensen, co-inventors of the moving-coil loudspeaker at their lab in Napa, California, under United States Patent number 1,105,924 for telephone receivers. Six decades later, Magnavox produced the Odyssey, the world's first home video game console.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JVC</span> Japanese international electronics corporation

JVC was a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as Victor Company of Japan, Ltd., the company was best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for developing the Video Home System (VHS) video recorder.

RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.

Aiwa is a Japanese consumer electronics brand of Aiwa Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Towada Audio holdings. The current company was established in 2017 and creates mainly audio products; the brand is also licensed to or owned by other companies in different regions of the world, producing various electronics.

Vantiva SA, formerly Technicolor SA, Thomson SARL, and Thomson Multimedia, is a French multinational corporation that provides creative services and technology products for the communication, media and entertainment industries. Vantiva's headquarters are located in Paris, France. Other main office locations include Norcross (USA), Rennes (France) Edegem (Belgium) Seoul, Beijing (China), Chennai (India), Memphis (USA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voxx International</span> American electronics company

Voxx International is an American consumer electronics company founded as Audiovox Corporation in 1960, and renamed Voxx in 2012. It is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company specializes in four areas: OEM and after-market automotive electronics, consumer electronics accessories, and consumer and commercial audio equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TCL Technology</span> Chinese multinational electronics company

TCL Technology is a Chinese partially state-owned electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It designs, develops, manufactures, and sells consumer products including television sets, mobile phones, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, and small electrical appliances. In 2010, it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer. It became the second-largest television manufacturer by market share by 2019.

Emerson Radio Corporation is one of the United States' largest volume consumer electronics distributors and has a recognized trademark in continuous use since 1912. The company designs, markets, and licenses many product lines worldwide, including products sold, and sometimes licensed, under the brand name G Clef, an homage to Emerson's logo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colortrak</span> Series of RCA Television models

Colortrak was a trademark used on several RCA color televisions beginning in the 1970s and lasting into the 1990s. After RCA was acquired by General Electric in 1986, GE began marketing sets identical to those from RCA. GE sold both RCA and GE consumer electronics lines to Thomson SA in 1988. RCA televisions with the Colortrak branding were mid-range models; positioned above the low-end XL-100 series but below the high-end Dimensia and Colortrak 2000 series. RCA discontinued the Colortrak name in the late 1990s, with newer models badged as the Entertainment Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RCA Lyra</span> Series of portable audio players

Lyra is a series of MP3 and portable media players (PMP). Initially it was developed and sold by Indianapolis-based Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc., a part of Thomson Multimedia, from 1999 under its RCA brand in the United States and under the Thomson brand in Europe. There were also RCA/Thomson PMPs without the Lyra name, such as the RCA Kazoo (RD1000), RCA Opal and RCA Perl. In January 2008, Thomson sold its Consumer Electronics part including the RCA brand and Lyra line to AudioVox. RCA-branded PMPs are still being made today in its domestic market but no longer under the Lyra name. The Lyra was an early pioneer in digital audio players, although in later years most of its output were OEM products.

Guide Plus+, TV Guide On Screen, TV Guide Daily, TV Guide Plus+ and Guide Plus+ Gold or G-Guide are brand names for an interactive electronic program guide (EPG) system that is used in consumer electronics products, such as television sets, DVD recorders, personal video recorders, and other digital television devices. It offers interactive on-screen program listings that enable viewers to navigate, sort, select and schedule television programming for viewing and recording. The differing names are only used for marketing purposes – the entire system is owned by Rovi Corporation, the successor to Gemstar-TV Guide International. In 2016, Rovi acquired digital video recorder maker TiVo Inc., and renamed itself TiVo Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westinghouse Licensing Corporation</span> Subsidiary that manages the Westinghouse brand

The Westinghouse Licensing Corporation was a Delaware General Corporation Law organized subsidiary that was founded in 1998 by Westinghouse-CBS in managing the intellectual property assets relating to the Westinghouse trademarks produced from 1886 until 1996. The Westinghouse name and trademarks were purchased from ViacomCBS in 2021 by a new company Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antenna rotator</span>

An antenna rotator is a device used to change the orientation, within the horizontal plane, of a directional antenna. Most antenna rotators have two parts, the rotator unit and the controller. The controller is normally placed near the equipment which the antenna is connected to, while the rotator is mounted on the antenna mast directly below the antenna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarnoff Corporation</span>

Sarnoff Corporation was a research and development company specializing in vision, video and semiconductor technology. It was named for David Sarnoff, the longtime leader of RCA and NBC, and had headquarters in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, though with a Princeton address.

ProScan is a consumer electronics manufacturer and has a trademark in continuous use since 1990. It is one brand of the French company Technicolor SA with products competing with higher-end electronics. The ProScan name is owned by Technicolor USA, Inc. The company created television and video products to compete with Sony's Trinitron XBR, Pioneer's Elite, and other electronics brand lines. Competition is focused mainly on price to size ratio. The tagline for ProScan is "So advanced, yet so simple."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coby Electronics Corporation</span> American manufacturer of consumer electronics products

Coby Electronics Corporation was an American manufacturer of consumer electronics products headquartered in Lake Success, New York, with offices and factories around the world. With the joint efforts of Coby Electronics Co. of Hong Kong and Coby Electronics Corp. of the United States, the products reached consumers in Asia, North America, South America and Europe; however, the company mostly sold in Europe and the United States. Coby also served as an OEM manufacturer for brands including Samsung, NEC, RadioShack's Presidian brand and Hyundai. Coby formerly provided OEM manufacturing for Daewoo before it became defunct. Its products are still available today.

Ferguson Electronics is an electronics company specializing in small electronics items such as radios and set top boxes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jensen Electronics</span> Consumer electronics brand

Jensen is a consumer electronics brand with a history that dates back to 1915 with Peter L. Jensen's invention of the first loudspeaker. Over the years the Jensen family of brands has grown to include Jensen, Advent, Acoustic Research (AR), Phase Linear and NHT Loudspeakers in the United States and Magnat and Macaudio in Germany. In 2004, Audiovox Corporation added the Jensen portfolio of brands to their mobile and consumer electronics lines. In 2015, Dual Electronics Corporation acquired Jensen, however Audiovox maintains its selection of Advent-branded car audio/navigation head units from its line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shintom</span> Japanese electronics company

Shintom Industries Co. Ltd. was a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, first founded in 1955 and ended in 2004, after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Shintom was engaged in the development, manufacture, and sale of mobile phone, car audio, transistor radio, videocassette recorder, measuring instrument, and medical equipment. Shintom had two factories worldwide, located both in Japan and Indonesia. Shintom first held a stake with Audiovox in 1980 as an OEM supplier for Audiovox car stereos.

References

  1. "Information about the license".
  2. "Technicolor: Closing of the Sale of Trademark Licensing operations". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  3. "RCA brand lives on, sans Nipper and Chipper". Indianapolis Business Journal.
  4. "RCA Monitors" . Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  5. "RCA Launches Products in First-Ever Gaming Monitor Line". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  6. "Contact Us | Telefield". rca4business.com. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  7. "UPDATE 1-Thomson to shut North American retail telephone unit". Reuters. 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  8. "RCA Television". Tv.rca.com. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  9. "Contact Us". RCA Microwaves. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  10. "RCA Laptop". Rcacomputer.com. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  11. "Alco Electronics' David Leung on making gadgets in China". phys.org. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  12. "RCA Digital TV Box" . Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  13. RCA Communication Systems
  14. "Intellectual Property Office - Our trade mark enquiry service has moved". Ipo.gov.uk. 2013-02-09. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  15. "Audiovox to Acquire Thomson's Consumer Electronics Accessory Business". 22 December 2006. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008.
  16. "Audiovox to Acquire Thomson's Consumer Electronics Audio Video Business outside Europe Including the Worldwide Rights to the RCA Brand for Consumer Electronics Audio Video Products". Phx.corporate-ir.net. 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  17. "RCA Television". Rca4tv.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  18. "License".