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Early Trifari PAT. PEND. signature. Many of these signatures also included the Trifari Crown symbol over the "T."
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Trifari PAT. PEND.
This is one of the earliest Trifari marks you will see (there were a couple of earlier signatures, but they are quite rare). Prior to 1955 the U.S. copyright law did not extend protection to jewelry designs, so the major manufacturers, who employed talented jewelry designers, protected their investment with U.S. patents. As soon as a design was completed, it was submitted to the U.S. patent office and a patent was applied for. This process normally took a few months, so the jewelry would be stamped "PAT. PEND." or "DES. PAT. PEND." to advise that a patent application for the design was filed (see photo on left). Once the patent was approved, a patent number was assigned and could be used on the jewelry.
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