Crystaliscious Perspective on trademarked stones

Super Seven, Mystic Merlinite, Infinite. This names just a few of the stones on the market that are trademarked names of stones that are available in the world today.

Just what is a trademarked stone? Who buys trademarked stones? 

“A trademark is a word, symbol, or phrase, used to identify a particular manufacturer or seller's products and distinguish them from the products of another. 15 U.S.C.  1127. For example, the trademark "Nike," along with the Nike "swoosh," identify the shoes made by Nike and distinguish them from shoes made by other companies (e.g. Reebok or Adidas). Similarly, the trademark "Coca-Cola" distinguishes the brown-colored soda water of one particular manufacturer from the brown-colored soda of another (e.g. Pepsi). When such marks are used to identify services (e.g. "Jiffy Lube") rather than products, they are called service marks, although they are generally treated just the same as trademarks.” ( taken from the following website: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm)

So a trademark is a marketing tool. A very powerful marketing tool in the metaphysical arena. These trademarked stones have been purchased in quantity, given misnomers,  registered with the US patent and trademark office, then have had beautiful stories written about the recent ‘discovery’ of them marketed worldwide for the purpose of selling them. These trademarked misnomers prevent other vendors from selling the same material under the trademarked name although it is the exact same material, often times of higher quality. The individuals that acquire the trademark often justify this by stating that they are paying for mass scale marketing and they do not want other vendors benefiting from it.

These misnomers that become the trademarked name, and the name that these stones are marketed under - only in the metaphysical industry, often confuse an already very confusing issue. Gemstones historically have been a very tricky to identify from country to country. Thousands of misnomers have been used for many hundreds of years in order to sell material that generally isn’t what it appears to be. And now we have ‘new’ material being found and not only named but trademarked under that misnomer. Another interesting tidbit about these trademarked stones - there is no required testing on the material, it’s for the purpose of marketing only. This means that I can receive a specimen of a trademarked stone, even with a certificate of authenticity for that trademarked material - and that doesn’t guarantee anything about what the material actually is, the trademark is specifically to distinguish one vendors material from another vendors material.

Is marketing really a bad thing? Not really. Industry is industry and none of us would know what a diamond was if it were not for the marketing campaign of Debeers. This campaign not only made a diamond a house hold word, it created traditions worldwide that still stand today that diamonds are intertwined with the marriage rites. Although Debeers worked for the regulation of quantity of diamonds on the market, they have also been known to uphold lab testing of their products. The campaign was to put legitimate stones on the market and sell them. These trademarked stones , are they legitimate?

Most collectors of minerals will tell you no, however the metaphysical community seem to love the stories behind the trademarked stones. The stories are what sell the stones, that has been true from the beginning of time, when a beautiful red bauble was presented to a queen to when a merlin acquired a clear rock that gave him the power to see the future, it has always been the stories that sell the stones. So is the trademarking of these stones any different than the gypsy sales of the past? I guess it depends on why you buy the stone. 

Some people buy a stone to put it on a shelf and show it off within a collection. There are others that buy stones to cut and polish them to see what they can make from them. Then there are those of us who buy the stone for the purpose of the learning what that stone has to teach. We are sometimes called the ‘touchy-feely’ crowd, the metaphysical crowd, the people that believe the stones have power. I am part of that crowd, I love the stones and I love getting a ‘ feel’ for a new stone. Why does it matter to me if someone re-names a legitimate stone, tells a story about it and sells it at an exorbitant price compared to the material of the authentic name? Because I am part of that crowd that loves the stone for what the stone has to offer, not the vendors story. 

Many people that are shopping and browsing through the metaphysical industry are here because they have open minds, many are here because they feel accepted in such an open minded industry where a strict religious system leaves them feeling restricted from who they are. Countless people are here because they have curiosities about things they are unable to explain. While others are here because they are looking for a piece of themselves they don’t realize they already possess. When these individuals run into a trademarked stone, it is mis-representation of the material for the purpose of profit. Many of these individuals don’t come into the shopping arena armed with anything other that than the books written by the ones that own the trademarks,  leaving behind a stream of frustrated vendors offering much higher quality material and lower prices without realizing that they are falling for an age old trick of the gypsies when searching for a stone with a specific name and set of properties. Often times these individuals even get angry when it is pointed out that the trademarked stone is lower quality and higher priced. 

It only frustrates me to see people taken advantage of. Those of us who love stones, we love the stories too, should we have to pay more for those? Shouldn’t we be educated about our purchases as we would be in an electronics store? Shouldn’t we have the opportunity to see the misnomer under it’s gemological name, with the actual mine testing so that we know what we are buying? Just because we like to ‘touch’ our collections does that mean that we don’t need to deal with honest vendors with what we are buying?

I not only collect stones, I also teach about stones, write about stones and do sessions with stones. One of my goals is to always educate my clients about what they are getting when they buy a stone, what minerals are present, what that stone does for me, what I expect it to do for them. I never recommend a trademarked stone - why should I when better material is on the market that is a fraction of the cost? I can respect the marketing job done by the individuals who have done the trademarking. I also loathe the confusion they have created in an industry that already had much confusion present from centuries of misnomers around the world. I have heard that we would not have an industry to work within without these individuals who have done the trademarking - I don’t believe that. The gemstone industry has been strong for centuries, the practice of the trademarking has only increased the division within the industry - the division between honest vendors and those out looking for their ‘mark’ to make a profit. Those who believe that there has not been a metaphysical interest in stones before these trademarked stones are very gullible and are not very aware of history. The folklore of stones has been around since time began - with gemstones being one of the first valuable resources noted. Wars have been fought over gemstones, societies have been built around gemstones, economies have been and still are based on gemstones. Do these individuals who trademark these stones truly believe that they have done something new in the gemstone industry?

My goals are to educate those within the metaphysical communities on truthful and honest stones, prices and practices. I believe that more education is the answer to the issue of dishonest sales people with wonderful stories to tell. When people understand where stones really come from, how they come to them, I also believe they appreciate them more. I believe that those looking for a particular stone should be told the historical truths about the stones they are purchasing. I also believe that our integrity as an industry rests on the decision that each of us make each time we recommend a stone or sell a stone. Are we giving a historical story or a story that is made up for the purpose of helping one vendor accrue a profit?  Because who’s story could be better - a dishonest vendor’s or the story the stone tells?