Who owns Royal Enfield's cannon logo?

®EOC
Royal Enfield cannon and Made Like a Gun motto in club badge.

 To my surprise, the Royal Enfield cannon motif and "Made Like a Gun" motto are trademarked for some uses by the Royal Enfield Owners Club (UK). 

Even more surprising is that the club, generously, doesn't maintain the trademark in order to keep it exclusive. It's comfortable with use by others, including the maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles in India. 

In fact, according to the website, club members are encouraged to use it. 

"We recently commissioned a professional designer to produce (restore) a nice sharp master artwork of our club badge to standardize what had become a mix of poor copies of previous copies of the club badge over the years. 

"On our website you’ll find two design variants in three different colors, which can be downloaded and enlarged or reduced for any decorative purpose. One has a simplified gun image more suitable for embroidered garments and some specific printing techniques. Please use our unique club identifier (®EOC), incorporating a trademark, which you’re paying for!" 

The website noted the history behind this:

"In 1995 Ian Parry set up a sub-committee of the REOC with the aim of safeguarding the use of the name Royal Enfield and the made like a gun logo. Ian successfully secured them in two trademarks: UK00002024203 ROYAL ENFIELD and UK00002027094 made like a gun plus cannon device for use on items of clothing, headgear, printed matter and club services. We get most value from the second trademark which is located centrally in our unique club badge.

"We pay a fee to safeguard our two trademarks, which are due for renewal in 2025 at a cost of approximately £1,500, so we need to get our money’s worth. It’s important to understand that the club didn’t want to prevent our trademarks being used by other parties, we wanted to ensure that we can use them without any legal issues."

®EOC
Simplified Royal Enfield Owners Club logo.

The website makes it clear that the club seeks to protect its own logo merchandise and regalia but doesn't oppose the motorcycle company's apparel ventures. That just gives Royal Enfield fans a wider choice of what to wear and display.

I live in the United States but I am a long-time member of the Royal Enfield Owners Club (UK). The primary benefit, at this distance, is the every-other-month arrival by email of the club publication The Gun.

The magazine is entertaining and informative but primarily entertaining, since I don't take part in person in any of the many chapter activities. I've shared some of the fun on this blog. For instance, the West Riding "Mystery Run" that was such a mystery its leader made it up as he went.

Every issue of The Gun contains a list of club merchandise you can purchase. I have my eye on a handsome stainless steel logo badge that might look nice on the handlebar of my 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet.

Not a member? I encourage you to join.

Wouldn't this look nice on my Royal Enfield?