The clothes go round and round - Hringekjan is the trademark of January

The word and figurative mark hringekjan has been chosen registered trademark of January by the staff of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office (ISIPO). Hringekjan is a clothing store that sells used clothes and accessories. According to Jana Maren Óskarsdóttir, founder and owner, the store's customers are of two types: those who rent space to sell clothes, and on the other, more traditional customers of clothing stores, who come to find beautiful and good clothes at a good price. Many sellers also themselves shop for clothes in the store, creating the perfect reuse cycle.

Óskarsdóttir, who has years of experience as a store manager, says that from the very beginning, they have put a lot of emphasis on a positive customer experience and that customers should feel like they are shopping in a real clothing store, not at a clothing market. The shop is all designed with this in mind, the clothes are clean and in good condition, the shop smells nice and the clothes are marked with beautiful labels. They have also hosted all kinds of cultural events in the store, including monthly concerts and work with designers to reuse garments left with them by sellers.

Davíð Örn Jóhannsson, the other owner and Óskarsdóttir's husband, is a trained computer scientist and both of them are passionate about reuse and sustainable fashion, art and culture. He says that they have tried to do everything themselves with the help of their closest relatives. Thus, the shop was designed and built by them with the help of numerous friends and relatives. The same applies to the website designed by David. "The whole concept is designed so that it can be expanded and taken further, even abroad," he says. "The online store is a work in progress and we are working to find solutions to the challenges that come with selling individual products over the internet."

They say the name Hringekjan (Carousel) comes from the fact that they are taking the clothes round after round in the circular economy. The hangar in the logo thus represents both the clothes and the reuse. The logo is designed by Pétur Guðmundsson and Davíð Young, who both worked at Metall Design Studios at the time. Jóhannsson and Óskarsdóttir say they wanted to protect the trademark by registering e.g. because there are numerous stores selling used clothes but their approach is unique and they wanted to make sure that no one could take advantage of their work to build a brand for other stores or ideas.

Jana Maren applied for registration of the word and figurative mark hringekjan in May last year and it was registered in December for retail services with clothing in class 35 and clothing rental in class 45.

The registered trademark of the month is modelled after similar projects at other Nordic and Baltic intellectual property offices. The aim of choosing one registered trademark for discussion each month is to raise awareness of the importance of trademark registrations and promote the ISIPO's activities. The organization's staff chooses the brand of the month from a group of newly registered and newly renewed Icelandic trademarks that represent Icelandic products and/or services. The registered trademark of the month should have clear distinctive features, it must not be descriptive nor may there be a risk of confusing it with other trademarks.