Office stress reliever mug could face a trademark battle (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Office stress reliever mug could face a trademark battle

4:00pm Saturday 7th April 2012 in Corsham

A CORSHAM graphic designer believes he has brewed up a treat for office workers after launching an ‘iMug’ – but it could face a trademark hurdle.

Paul Spencer, 38, who has lived in the south west for 10 years, was inspired by media tablets and apps to create a fully interactive mug, ideal for relieving the strain in stressful offices.

The square mug, specially designed to be written on using coloured chinagraph pencils, has a range of ‘apps’.

These include a weather predictor, two person games, a weekend countdown, an iDing music maker, symbols to update your colleagues where you are and, all importantly, a chart for how you take your tea.

Mr Spencer, of Creative Sweet, based in Holt’s Glove Factory Studios, said: “It started off as a runners-up prize for a competition I was running. I didn’t want to just give away boring mugs, so I decided to think outside the box.

“It is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek look at these great hi-tech electronic devices which companies like Apple create, and the mug just shows how something quite simple can be used in a rather creative way.”

Mr Spencer said the mug, which can have the chinagraph pencil marks easily washed off for reuse, has received a lot of attention from companies wanting to market it.

But for now, the mug isn’t available for sale as Mr Spencer, originally from Essex, is still awaiting trademark confirmation, which is likely to see the mug change name.

In the meantime he has been giving them away as competition prizes to promote his business.

He said: “We are still awaiting news but unfortunately it will not be called iMug for much longer.

“I don’t think there will be any issues with Apple, as it is just a bit of fun and I’m not selling them, but I’m not going to push it much further until the trademark is resolved.

“I think the nice thing about this mug is that it has got people smiling and talking about it while it also shows the creative design skills of myself and my colleagues in terms of design and thinking outside the box.”

To see a video of the iMug, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6SBKsFspYw or to find out more about Creative Sweet, visit www.mycreativesweet.co.uk