Introduction

Branding has been used since the earliest times to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. Indeed, the word ‘brand’ derives from the Old Norse word brandr, which means to burn. Brands were, and still are, the means by which owners of cattle mark their animals as their own. From branding cattle and other livestock, early man moved on to brand all his other chattels — a potter identified his pots by putting his thumbprint into the wet clay at the bottom of the pot or by making some other form of mark such as a star, a cross or a circle. The mark represented proof of origin of the product and was important information to purchasers who wanted to buy that particular potter’s products. The potter, by identifying his products in this way, was able to provide his customers with a means of recognising and specifying his products. From the customer’s perspective, of course, the presence of marks on pots and other goods provided a means of avoiding those products which the customer did not want to buy.