Next of Kiln
A re-registered trademark passes a beloved name in pottery on to a new generation of fans.
Vital Stats: Janek Boniecki,
48, owner of Bauer Pottery Co. of Los Angeles
Company: Manufacturer of
ceramic pottery
Sales: $750,000 projected
for 2002
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Abandoned Treasure: "I
had a small company making and selling candles in bright ceramic
pots, similar to Bauer colors. When I decided to start a ceramic
pot business as well, I did a trademark search to register a name.
The first thing I looked for was Bauer Pottery. I tried all the
combinations for Bauer Pottery and didn't come up with
anything. I was excited; I kept thinking I was doing something
wrong on the trademark search. But I found it really had been an
abandoned trademark since the 1960s and re-registered it in
1998."
"I was getting
stores or antiques dealers who'd unscrupulously pass off the
new Bauer as originals. I've stamped them 'Bauer 2000'
ever since."
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Collect Call: "I've
collected Bauer since the early 1980s and was always inspired by
their happy colors." Boniecki isn't alone: After a
national magazine did an article on his business, he received more
than 5,000 calls from collectors. "There's a big market of
collectors excited to add the new Bauer to their
collection."
Histori-Cali Cool:
"After the Depression, Bauer was a California company
introducing bright, happy colors when most of America had been
eating off of tan or white china. They introduced the whole style
of mixing and matching dinnerware, and it really boosted the patio
lifestyle California was getting into in the 1930s. We've
modified some of the original designs to fit the needs of our
times, but 90 percent are the same."
Pot-Pourri:
"There's definitely strength in what we've got. We
will expand and offer more items, maybe extend the name as a home
collection, textiles and possibly some furniture."
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