Which company trademarked “Ping-Pong” as a table tennis brand in Britain in 1901?

J. Jaques & Son trademarked “Ping-Pong” as a table tennis brand in Britain in 1901.

The London-based games manufacturer helped popularize the name for an indoor game played with miniature rackets and a lightweight ball. “Table tennis” remained the more generic description, while “Ping-Pong” became strongly associated with commercial equipment and organized play.

The brand name is often mistakenly treated as the sport’s original official name. In reality, several names were used during the game’s early development, including whiff-whaff and table tennis. The trademark helped make “Ping-Pong” famous, but it did not replace table tennis as the international sporting term.

The modern governing body, the International Table Tennis Federation, was founded in 1926 and uses “table tennis” in its rules and competitions.