Dunlop (brand)

The Dunlop brand and the D Device (Flying D) can be found on many items that have little connection to the original Dunlop company.

Today, there are more than 20 corporate entities which are in one way or other licenced to use logo and brand. This entry groups radio related products (merchandise etc).

From Wikipedia:

Dunlop is a brand of tyre originally produced by the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company from the end of the 19th century, taking its name from John Boyd Dunlop. The brand is used for many other products made from rubber or with rubber components and some with a looser connection to rubber.

Ownership of the brand has become fragmented over the years. Three main events contributed to this fragmentation:

• in 1899, the Dunlop company sold its Australian branch. As a result, Dunlop Australia acquired the rights to the brand in Australia.
• in 1985, Dunlop Rubber sold the rights to the Dunlop brand of automobile tyre, following several bad business decisions, including a disastrous joint venture with Pirelli where Dunlop unwittingly took responsibility for significant debts.
• between 1996 and 1998, BTR plc (which acquired Dunlop Rubber in 1985) sold a number of companies which used the Dunlop brand for their products.

Today, the Dunlop brand and logo (sporting and manufacturing) is largely reunified under the ultimate ownership of Mike Ashley (of Sports Direct fame). Many companies producing products bearing the D Device (Flying D) have a long historical association and only these may possibly incorporate the word Dunlop in their trading name.