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As
of this writing (September 3, 2000) there were 1603 'eXtreme' trademarks
pending or registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
So, what all is eXtreme in America? Quite a lot, of course.
However, the notion of what exactly can be "extreme" does not go as
far as what can be ULTRA. That is, while every type of product
and service under the sun seems to have its ULTRA version, fewer go
to the EXTREME. This is testimony to the divergence of connotations
for these two words over the last decade (give or take), whose dictionary
defnitions are in fact remarkably similar:
| Ultra |
"Going beyond what is usual or ordinary;
excessive; extreme"; ultra being Latin for 'beyond'
* |
| Extreme*** |
"of a character or kind farthest
removed from the ordinary or average"; this is also from the Latin:
extremus which is the superlative for exterus, meaning
outward |
Now, personally,
when I hear the word ultra my first visual impression is
that of a bottle of dish washing liquid, while extreme brings
to mind mountain bikers wearing Oakley sunglasses. That kind of
extreme we'll call extreme with a capital "X."
The first trademark
to use the word EXTREME was National Supply Company's "EXTREME
LINE", registered January 12, 1954. This, of course was about
forty years prior to the hey-day of cultural eXtremity in America, which
is somewhat interesting in that this mark (the name of a a high tensile
steel-threaded, ferrous metal, oil well tubing first used in 1934) would
officially expire on October 17, 1994 -- a time when America was absolutely
eXtreme).
In my book,
the first EXTREME trademark of the type you and I are so accustomed
to today was TEAM EXTREME, which registered on August 9, 1988 to Extreme
Snowboard Promotions for snowboarding exhibitions and sports clothing.
This mark expired in 1991, and since then there have been any number
of identical or similar trademarks for a wide range of products and
services. Some other EXTREME marks of note are:
EXTREME SPORTS –
applied for by Kozmik Klothing in
1990, but never registered
EXTREME –
two applications registered by The North Face in 1984, one for jackets
and trousers and the other for bacpacks. TNF still retains those
rights, however my feeling is that at the time of the filing their notion
of "extreme" referred more to weather (e.g. "arctic extemes") than the
Mountain Dew machismo we know today.
Yeah, anyway, that shit could go
on forever if you actually cared but let's just cut back to the future:
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|
Trademark
Name
*
|
Product
Description
* |
| MR. EXTREME |
Professional wrestler (filed on August 2, 2000
by The Future of Wrestling , Inc. in Sunrise, Florida) - this
is a pretty typical eXtreme context I admit, but let's look at
the next example: |
| X-TREME SCENT
LOC |
Fishing lures and artificial bait (perhaps these
lures have wild colors; maybe even dreadlocks) |
| XTREME VALUE |
Online services for automotive aftermarket parts
manufacturers, warehouse distributors and retailers to market
and sell aftermarket automotive parts (for me, the dumbest part
of this is the name of the applicant: eParts eXchange, Inc.) |
| XTREME INTERNET |
some stupid web portal |
| BUILD IT
WITH EXTREME STYLE |
Internet design for web sites |
| EXTREME CLOSE
QUARTER BATTLE |
Educational services, namely training of law
enforcement, military, VIP protection and security officers in
the use of modern weapons and in law enforcement, military, and
security tactics |
| EXTREME GARAGE |
Garage, utility room and workroom furnishings...
shelving, racks, hooks... (filed by Better Life Technology, LLC
of Kansas) |
| EXTREME SAUSAGE |
NICE! this mark is for "Sausage Sandwiches" at
the Jack In The Box burger chain |
| ORANGE EXTREMESICLE |
Another gem in my book: this is a "yogurt-based
dairy drink" manufactured by, get this, "Olde Home Foods Corporation"
of Minneapolis.
Olde Home...eXtreme? Whuh? |
| EXTREME COOL |
foam cups (yeah, I guess styrofoam is extreme) |
| EXTREME PRETZEL |
snack foods, namely, soft pretzel
products |
| EXTREME JUICE |
Juice - I'm sorry but 'extreme juice' just sounds
nasty |
| EXTREME CHEESE |
process cheese sauce sold in aerosol cans |
| EXTREME DE FOIE GRAS |
goose liver (yes...EXTREME PATÉ) |
| X-TREME
|
frozen processed potatoes, breaded and /or battered
onion rings, vegatables, cheese, and vegetable and cheese combinations |
| EXTREME E
COMMERCE |
typical eBull iShit. I'm glad to see that
someone has finally put the iStupidest eWords together. |
| EXTREME FOR
JESUS |
Hallelujah! It's about time Christianity
went extreme. This is for "mouse pads...and computer programs
in the field of screen savers and helmets" (helmets?) |
| EXTREME WATERSPORTS |
Computer software for playing computer games
(Hmm...I guess some people don't know that 'water sports' is a
porn industry term for urine related sexual fetishes, etc.) |
| APPALACHIAN
EXTREME |
Recreational services, namely providing camps
of a Christian and evangelistic nature for young people, located
in the Appalachian Mountains |
| WORSHIP EXTREME |
pre-recorded audio and video tapes
featuring religious music |
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