Owner National Amusements Founded 1886 | Website www.westinghouse.com | |
Trading name Westinghouse Electric Corporation Industry Brand managementTrademark management Predecessor Westinghouse Electric (1886) Parent organizations CBS Corporation, Resource Management Profiles | ||
Westinghouse Licensing Corporation (commonly known as Westinghouse Electric Corporation) is a Delaware General Corporation Law organized subsidiary that was founded in 1998 by Westinghouse-CBS (the renamed "original Westinghouse" and predecessor of the current CBS Corporation) in managing the intellectual property assets relating to the Westinghouse trademarks produced from 1886 until 1996.
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Westinghouse Licensing has its headquarters in New York City inside the headquarters of its parent, CBS Corporation; its predecessor was located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
History
All traces of the Westinghouse name go back to the original company's roots starting in 1886 when George Westinghouse founded the company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
After the original Westinghouse acquired CBS Inc. in 1995 from Laurence Tisch, it was about ready to transform itself from an industrial company into a media giant. Starting in 1996, it did just that, selling off many of its non-media assets that came with them.
In 1997, Westinghouse acquired Infinity Broadcasting Corporation and was reorganized as the first CBS Corporation, taking on the name of the broadcasting network. This, however, ended the reign of the name that had been associated with America for 111 years.
In 1998, CBS Corporation established a brand licensing subsidiary Westinghouse Licensing Corporation (Westinghouse Electric Corporation); the original Westinghouse name had recognition in the consumer marketplace and so had a value apart from any actual manufacturing company under that name.
In 1999, CBS Corporation sold all of its nuclear businesses to BNFL. Soon after, BNFL gained license rights on the Westinghouse trademarks and they used those to reorganize their acquired assets as Westinghouse Electric Company LLC. That company was later sold to the Toshiba Group in 2007.
In 2000, CBS Corporation was absorbed into Viacom, thus shutting down all what was left of the "original Westinghouse" for good. The Westinghouse licensing division was included in the merger, and Viacom obtained control of the Westinghouse trademarks. However, in 2005, Viacom changed its name to CBS Corporation, and spun off a new company under the Viacom name. As of 2005, this incarnation of CBS Corporation continues to operate the Westinghouse Licensing Corporation.
Licensing of the brand
Since 1998, Westinghouse Licensing Corporation has licensed the famous brand for use on a multitude of products, some of which were in similar categories to those sold by the historic version of the company. Though these products advertise the Westinghouse name, they are not manufactured by the historic Westinghouse company.
Active licensees
These are the active Westinghouse licensees manufacturing products under the Westinghouse and White-Westinghouse names: