Ancient Egyptian Roots of Trademarks

This article examines such names and symbols that appear on a variety of ancient objects and attempts to draw conclusions about their nature. More specifically, this article offers suggestions about the purposes of such marks and considers how the nature of commerce in ancient Egypt may have influenced the development—or lack thereof—of trademarks there. And although there is a decided paucity of what we today might consider true trademarks, we can be certain that both the legal principles and the well-developed use of symbolic communication of the ancient Egyptians planted the seeds for the later growth of modern trademarks and trademark law