Professor Bently has shown that between 1870 and 1913 important changes were introduced to British trade mark law. The single most important piece of legislation during this period was the Trade Marks Registration Act (1875). The crucial provisions of this Act were that registration became prima facie evidence of the right of the registered proprietor to exclusive use of the trade mark and, from 1876, no person was allowed to institute proceedings to prevent infringement of a mark unless it was registered. These early developments, although of fundamental legal importance, did not occur in vacuo: in many respects they were the outcome of sustained pressure by commercial and industrial interests. This commentary complements Professor Bently's discussion in the following ways. First, it places the legal issues into a business history context in order to demonstrate that trade marks issues can enhance our understanding of the performance of British industry during this period. Second, I discuss the extent to which the Trade Marks Registration Act (1875) can be considered a success, by examining features of trade mark registration and litigation between 1875 and 1914. In the penultimate section of my commentary I discuss how pressure for protection of individual trade marks developed into a much broader campaign focussing on geographical indicia. Conclusions are presented in the final section.