Based on my limited research into Mitsubishi Uni’s corporate timeline, their Jaguar brand of writing instruments started way back in 1967. But what is really interesting is… I don’t think they were ever officially licensed products for the British luxury car maker!
Yes, the word mark is kind of similar, and sometimes they would even include the silhouette of the big cat, but I have never seen any ‘TM’ ‘(R)’ or ‘Officially Licensed’ language mentioned on the pens or packaging. So, what gives?
My best guess is: back in those less globally connected times, Mitsubishi brazenly used the name for their own purposes to market a line of prestigious writing instruments. And, maybe they were counting on the legal loophole that ‘making pens is totally unrelated to the business of making cars’.
Anyway… they succeeded. My mind simply cannot sever the association between the two brands. For what it’s worth, throughout the 1970s to 1990s, Jaguar was always seen as a luxury continental car brand here in Singapore – a bit impractical for the average driver due to its elongated chassis and styling, but then again, if you drove one, it meant you probably owned a home with a large enough garage to park one comfortably.
While the Jaguar E-type is arguably the marque’s most famous design, as a kid growing up in 80s, the XJ-S coupe from 1978 was by far the most memorable for me. And that is why I picked one to match-up with a M5-1010 sharp and what I think is a SS-2500 Jaguar pen with a blank etched lattice body.
In legal terms, they may be traveling on parallel no-merge lanes but thematically, they are inseparable.