ARCHBALD, Pa., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Thailand has backed Lockheed Martin's efforts to trademark a term used in laser-guided bombs.
Lockheed Martin said in a statement Thursday it has received a decision from The Office of the Registrar in Thailand "confirming assertion that the term 'paveway' is a generic name used in describing laser technology in laser guided bombs."
"Thailand is the third nation this year to agree with Lockheed Martin on the paveway issue," the company said.
"An application to register the term 'paveway' as a trademark that was filed by the Raytheon Company in Thailand in 2005 was rejected by the Registrar’s office in Thailand in July 2007 based on the following findings: the term 'paveway' is not distinctive since it is the name of technology which uses laser to guide bombs to a target; it specifies a characteristic of laser guided bombs; and, therefore, the term may be used by all manufacturers of the product. These are predominately the same findings as in a merit ruling in Turkey in March 2007," Lockheed Martin said.
“Lockheed Martin is pleased that the international courts continue to recognize the merit of our claim that paveway is a generic term,” said John Pericci, Lockheed Martin’s Business Development director at its Archbald, Pa., facility.
“We won a default decision early this year in the country of Oman, and were awarded another successful decision on merit in Turkey. This decision shows a trend in the international marketplace and reinforces our position as a fully-qualified supplier of paveway II precision guided systems for our international customers,” Pericci said.
Lockheed Martin said it had made paveway II Laser Guided Bombs, paveway II Enhanced Laser Guided Training Rounds and paveway II Dual Mode Laser Guided Bombs "for domestic and international customers since 1992."
"Paveway is a generic term, developed by the Air Force, for a family of laser guided weapon systems, Lockheed Martin said. The company said it was "a fully qualified provider of paveway laser guided bomb -- LGB -- kits and has delivered/and is delivering these systems to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers."
