Workers are refusing to use the familiar red-and-black devices in anger at Thierry Henry's cheating, The Sun reports. Some have even defaced the smiling cartoon faces that are painted on the front of the appliances, with others writing abuse next to the Henry logo. The vandalism is said to have mystified bosses because Thierry Henry has no connection with the brand of vacuum cleaners, which are produced by the British firm Numatic. "Several cleaners say they're unhappy working with vacuum cleaners with the cheat's name written on them," a worker at a government building in Dublin told the newspaper. "It's bizarre because the machines have nothing whatsoever to do with Thierry Henry. "Some have painted over the name on the cleaner and wiped the smile off its little red face. It just shows how the frustration caused by that goal has got to everyone in Ireland." Henry's handball to set up France's late winner at the World Cup play-off in Paris last week has infuriated Irish and British football fans.

Supporters have threatened a boycott of the Gillette shaving products endorsed by the 32-year-old forward, who previously enjoyed a clean-cut reputation. More than six million Henry vacuum cleaners have been sold around the world since they were launched in 1980.In a world of sadness and misery, a smiling face can make all the difference. This was perhaps what Qualtex UK thought, when they wiped the smile off the face of Henry the Smiling Vacuum Cleaner. Qualtex, one of the UK's less successful IP litigants in recent years (see here and here), must have had the smile wiped from their own faces when they lost again -- this time in Numatic International Ltd v Qualtex UK Ltd [2010] EWHC 1237 (C), a Chancery Division ruling from Mr Justice Floyd on 28 May.In this action Numatic sued Qualtex for passing off. Numatic was the maker of the beloved Henry vacuum cleaner. Henry was basically a tub with a domed black "bowler hat" lid, below which a red cylinder bore a printed smiling face, the hole where the hose emerged serving as his nose.

Numatic had invested significant resources in giving Henry an anthropomorphic character and appearance. Apart from looking cute, Henry was a hard and effective worker who earned his reputation through years of successful use.mini vacuum cleaner for sale philippinesNumatic issued quia timet proceedings and applied for an interim injunction, and Qualtex promised not to sell vacuum cleaners with that appearance. perfect upright vacuum cleanerQualtex also argued, that since the cleaning trade show, it had done further work on the design and branding of the prototype and that the machine which it intended to sell had a bumper band and tool caddy, with the words "Quick Clean Equipment" and "Commercial" on it. portable vacuum cleaner black decker

Cat and dog vacuum cleaners hereSome famous Henrys here, here and hereOne infamous Henry hereSong about lots of Henrys here Subscribe to the IPKat's posts by email here Just pop your email address into the box and click 'Subscribe': Numatic Henry HVR200 Bagged Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner - Yellow It's not simply Henry's happy but cheeky character that customers have loved for more than 25 years, it is more the full professional performance and design. High efficiency filtration system. Capacity of dustbag 9 litres. Uses disposable dustbags - 3 bags included. Stainless steel extension tubes. Size H370, W340, D340cm. Weight 6.9kg. Carpet pick up rating: C. Hard floor pick up rating: C. Overall energy rating: D. Total emissions: C. DB74 noise level. 25 kWh usage per year. AEG Ergorapido AG3103 10.8v 2 in 1 CordlessThe British nominally call it "hoover." But that's a little misleading (see update below). This is because back in the 1970s, I well remember half the people were calling it a "vacuum cleaner" (or "the vacuum" or just "the vac").

We can hear "vacuum" or "vacuum cleaner" several times in the movies Get Carter (1971, starring Michael Caine) and Sitting Target (1971, starring Oliver Reed) -- both MGM films that aimed to give an "authentic" flavour of UK of the time for the international (especially American) audience.It's the same situation with the index cards, the British term for which is record cards -- notwithstanding the fact the package labelling has "index cards" as sold by stationers W.H. Smith and Ryman's for as long as I could remember (certainly back in the 1970s).Updated 08 Jan. 2014 to add:Just to show that "vacuum cleaner" isn't as American as the received wisdom indicates, here's more illumination:Before the vac, there were already at least two dozen British, American, French and German patents from the 1850s on mechanised carpet cleaning. (via Wikipedia: Hubert Cecil Booth)In 1901, Hubert Cecil Booth at age 30 invented the motorised vacuum cleaner AND coined the term "vacuum cleaner" -- UK Patent No. 17,433/1901 filed 30 Aug. 1901.

Booth  later became chairman and managing director of the British Vacuum  Cleaner & Engineering Company (BVCC). BVCC is today the British Vacuum  Company (BVC) (http://www.bvc.co.uk/). The following year, 1902, Booth introduced his vacuum cleaner to the general retail market in the UK. In 1903, BVCC became a publicly listed company. Interestingly in the same year, wealthy ladies started throwing "vacuum cleaner parties" in which uniformed BVCC attendants vacuumed the place. Even more interesting, Booth himself was once stopped by the police after giving a vacuum demo at the Royal Mint. He forgot to empty the dustbag, which contained a sizeable quantity of gold dust from the Mint. In 1908, Booth or BVCC was unable to afford producing the vacuum cleaner, so Booth so the patent to William Henry Hoover. And the rest is history. Above: BVCC advertisement for UK market, January 1923 (via gracesguide.co.uk) In 1926, BVCC branded its entire line of domestic vacuum cleaners under the famous tradename "Goblin."

The brand was acquired in 1973 by Birmingham Sound Reproducers (then BSR Housewares, now Astec BSR). Above: UK market advertisement, 1938. The price was £11.15s (or £11.75 in decimalised money).In 1955, the Institution of Civil Engineers issued Booth's official obituary:"In 1900 he began a consulting practice in London. In 1901 he invented the vacuum cleaner, and the success of his discovery laid the foundation of the vacuum cleaner industry throughout the world. Later he became Chairman and Managing Director of the British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Co."[Source: Institution of Civil Engineers. ICE Proceeding, 1955, vol. 4(4), pages 631-632. London: Thomas Telford Publishing, 1955.]Aside: It's apparent even in 1955 that "vacuum cleaner" and "vacuum cleaner industry" was already in [some] authoritative use in the UK, notwithstanding the "Hoover" usage. In any case, whenever possible, avoid the use of a descriptive name based on a trademarked name (the general rule in journalism), ergo, vacuum cleaner.