The History of the Jabot Trademark

The developer of the name, Jabot, in relation to cosmetics was not the daytime soap opera but rather cosmetics giant, Coty Inc. of New York, New York. 

In 1908, Francois Coty founded Maison Coty, a perfume salon in Paris, France.  By 1912, he had opened a division on Fifth Avenue in New York City.  His rival, Lucien Lelong, was a Parisian fashion designer & perfumer. He expanded his operations to Chicago in 1928.  Lelong released a perfume in 1939 called Jabot.  In 1953, Coty took control of the Jabot trademark.  Today, Coty is the largest fragrance company in the world.

I operated a business under the trade name, Jabot Cosmetics, beginning in 1987.  I worked out of a post office box in Genoa City, Wisconsin and sold fragrances in the tourist mecca of Niagara-On-The-Lake, a quaint, little village not far from Niagara Falls.  That same year, I took over control of the Jabot trademark which I registered in Canada in 1989 and in the United States, a year later.  I also registered “Jabot for the young and the restless generation” in Canada.

In 1988, before registering the trademarks, I approached two executives from Columbia Pictures Television with a proposal.  Their responses were as follows:

“Your letter requests that a cosmetic product manufactured by your company be 'written into' the script for 'The Young and the Restless.'  Please be advised that the executive producers of the series have declined your proposal, and do not wish to utilize, endorse or make reference to Jabot Cosmetics, or any of its products.”

Cynthia Wasney: Attorney

“As per our conversation Friday, Columbia Pictures Merchandising is not interested in tying in 'The Young & the Restless' with your fragrance 'Jabot.'

“It should be further noted that we do not want to see any personal endorsements using actors from our show which in any way depicts their character names or association with 'The Young & the Restless,' in relation to your 'Jabot' cosmetic.”

Lester J. Borden: Vice President & General Manager

The irony in those responses amused me.  However, Columbia Pictures was convinced that Jabot was mine, to do with as I pleased, provided that I didn’t make any reference to the fictional entities in the soap opera.