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Despite its German name, Adox Fotowerke, Inc. is a Canadian company, inspired by the history and values of the original German Adox company of the last century.
The Schleussner family's photographic business was always family-owned, and never achieved the size of a Kodak or an Agfa. But they innovated steadily, creating a stream of new technologies. The family held (and still has) leadership in medical diagnostics and industrial coating. They created a stir in the photographic world with a completely new, high-sharpness, thin-emulsion film which went on the market in 1952, the legendary Adox KB17. The new film was a significant advance, and marked a turning point in photographic science. Today, the Adox products you see on these pages are engineered and brought to market in the same spirit of ground-breaking innovation that animated the original company. They are Canadian products sold in Canada through dealers, distributors, and Internet retailers. Due to potential trademark conflicts, the company's products are presently sold worldwide without the Adox name and logo (see below). Adox Fotowerke, Inc. is a body corporate registered in the Province of Alberta. The name "Adox" and the Adox logo are trademarks in Canada of Adox Fotowerke, Inc. The company's mailing address is: Adox Fotowerke, Inc. e-Mail should be addressed to
And, why are there so many of them all of a sudden? Where it started Everywhere in the world, the Adox trademark originally referred exclusively to products of Adox Fotowerke Dr. C. Schleussner GMBH of Frankfurt am Main, in Germany. That ended in 1962. How the trademark lapsed In 1962, the Schleussner family sold its photographic holdings to DuPont, an American company. DuPont became owners of the trademark, and registered it in the United States. DuPont licensed the Adox film technology, but not the trademark, to Fotokemika, who now own it and manufacture the original Adox films, which they sell under their Efke trademark. DuPont kept the Adox trademark. They transferred it to a subsidiary, Sterling Diagnostic Imaging, for its Adox brand x-ray films. They still apply it to an industrial chemical, sodium chlorite. In 1999, Sterling was bought by the German company Agfa, and was absorbed into Agfa's Health Sciences unit. In this roundabout way, the Adox photographic trademark once again became German. Agfa did not use the Adox trademark, and the mark was removed from the German Patent Office trademark registry in March, 2003. What happened after the trademark lapsed Recognizing the value of the name, two groups of photographic entrepreneurs revived it, almost simultaneously, without knowledge of each others' activities. It is not the purpose of the following summary to judge the merits of anyone's claims, but only to show in a general way how the trademark was revived twice, independently, at almost the same time. In Canada, Adox Fotowerke, Inc. (owners of this web site), registered the Adox.net domain in February of 2003, began using the mark for business late in May, and put Adox brand products up for sale on the Internet on October 16, 2003. The other group was working in approximately the same time frame. The various trademark records show that a German individual and an American individual applied for a registration in Germany and in the United States on June 24 and 25, respectively. Both of those individuals own companies named Adox Fotowerke, and the two individuals know each other and are affiliated. The Canadian Adox has no affiliation with them. The Canadian company had no knowledge of what the German and American were doing; they had no knowledge of what the Canadian company was doing. Ordinary due diligence could not, and did not, make them aware of each other, since they were acting more or less simultaneously. On October 16, 2003, when Adox Fotowerke, Inc. (the Canadian Adox) began actively selling Adox brand goods on the Internet, the two groups became aware of each others activities. Adox Fotowerke, Inc. immediately took steps to clarify who had entitlement to the trademark. Legal issues aside, both groups are greatly concerned about the danger of causing confusion among customers. What's going to happen now. We value the Adox name, the trademark, and the long history of innovation embodied in it. We value the confidence photographers have in the trademark. We pledge to honor that tradition and earn that confidence. Adox Fotowerke, Inc. the Canadian Adox, will take all necessary steps to ensure that we do not confuse customers about which company we are, which products are being offered, and what the Adox trademark means. For that reason, it is our intent to sell Adox logo products only in Canada, where we are the owners of the trademark. Our company's products are now being sold outside Canada, but they do not carry the Adox name or logo.
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Copyright 2003-2004 Adox Fotowerke, Inc. Calgary |
The original German company, Adox Fotowerke Dr. C. Schleussner
GMBH of Frankfurt am Main, was the world's first photographic materials manufacturer. Dr. Carl
Schleussner did pioneering work on the wet-colloidon process during the early
years of
photography, and formed his
manufacturing company in 1860. Working with the physicist Roentgen, discoverer
of x-rays, Dr. Schleussner invented the first
x-ray plate.
