JCR Maker's Mark
Here I go again...my pet peeve is Google misinformation and everyone just copying one another. Ok make that two pet peeves. When you search for the owner of trademark JCR the seemingly unanimous answer is John C. Rinker but it is really made by him? You will find that not only individual sales listings but large platform sites like Etsy, Ebay and EBTH, who touts themselves as the premier platform, with the sellers advertising their jewelry as something it isn't. Their titles state "a rare John C Rinker, or "hand made by John C Rinker" and made by "famous designer John C. Rinker" from Baltimore Maryland. When you google John C. Rinker you come up with a website page jcr-jewelry.com (which is now offline but wasn't when this article was first researched) with the name John C Rinker and his initials JCR. A quick scan of the his web site showed he was a repair shop who did some custom design. So far so good here's his name ✓, the letters JCR ✓, its mentioned he was a designer ✓ and all listings are selling a JCR marked item is using his name so there's the maker's mark match ✓, right? ......Wrong......What is not clear is that although John spent his career as a designer, he designed under other business' names and not his own. He never featured or marketed his own branded jewelry until he owned the shop John C. Rinker Jewelry in Baltimore MD. He restored "antique pieces made of platinum, gold or silver". He did dabble in bespoke custom designed pieces but in his small work shop. All this history of his was obtained from the About page on his website when it was online. His facebook page still exists here https://www.facebook.com/profi.... When a Federal trademark search is conducted under John's name there is no filing for his own mark under his or his business name. So the question still remains, who really does own the JCR trademark and who is the real maker of jewelry with this letter mark?
Here is the federally filed data for the owner, JAM CREATIONS, INC. A mass merchandiser / manufacturer located in New York City's jewelry district that was founded in 1989. https://start.cortera.com/company/research/k3q9pzp8k/jam-creations-inc/ . Jam Creations used the JCR letter mark from April 1996 until June 2004. There is a hand full of sellers who have attributed this mark to "designer Chuck Clemency" of Jam Creations and presented the jewelry as if it was personally made by him.....that would not be correct either. True it is his product as the principal owner but manufactured in a mass production environment and without a doubt never touched by the hands of Check Clemency. The merchandise, many of which were sold through mass marketing channels, fall between upscale to mid range for price points.
75047678 - JCR
Status: Dead/Cancelled, Registration cancelled because registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8
Date of the registration - 09.09.1997
Date of the termination of the registration of the mark - (Cancelled) 12.06.2004
Date of filing of the application - 24.01.1996
Name and address of the holder of the registration
(Owner) JAM CREATIONS, INC. Corporation NEW YORK, 7 West 45th Street, New York NY 1003
