Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by JustinH
I read an article that stated that the big oil companies own a bunch of old brands. In order to keep the copyright on those logos, they need to have at least one station with the original name operating.
So they will go around and open one station and brand it with the old logo to keep the copyright going.
Makes sense, and the article had some interesting photos as well.
I think there are some more nuances, such as making sure the trademark is still used in states where it had been used before. For instance, after the breakup of Standard Oil, several companies still used the Standard brand including the ones that became Esso/Exxon, Chevron, etc. I pumped gas at a "Standard" station in San Francisco a few weeks ago.
Wow... look at that. I've never seen a Standard fueling station/sign. Tx for sharing the pic..ðŸ‘
Fwiw, the Sinclair station near me has the iconic Dino the dinosaur on top of it's pricing pole and of course on it's signage elsewhere. It's actually pretty cool looking... the white and green theme is eye catching. I've always been partial to ConocoPhillips 76 stations as my father retired from there and I've never had a problem with 76 gas. But I just might be giving Sinclair a try...
I'm old enough to remember plenty of them in my childhood. I believe the old Standard Oil companies were allowed to use that brand in their particular regions, but then had to come up with new names (Esso, Chevron, Amoco, Socony/Mobil) if they wanted to branch out beyond their defined regions. Back when I was a kid, there were a mix of Chevron and Standard stations in my area, but they surely started to rebrand as Chevron. But they make sure to keep at least a few around in every state where their trademark is registered.
Here's one of an Amoco station in North Dakota:
It's mostly Amoco branded, but they have the Standard sign. It's a 10 year old photo, and I'm not sure if it's still open. But even then it had dial reading pumps and only full service.