The brand Durex is used for a number of unrelated products around the world. Most commonly, Durex is the trademarked name for a range of condoms made by UK-based multinational SSL International. A condom sealed in typical packaging A condom is a device, usually made of latex, that covers a mans penis during sexual intercourse to avoid pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted diseases (STD) such as gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV. They are also known as prophylactics, as well as a number... SSL International PLC is a multinational company, headquartered in London. ...

The name, which the London Rubber Company trademarked in 1929, is a portmanteau of "Durability, Reliability, and Excellence". 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A portmanteau (plural: portmanteaux or portmanteaus) is a word that is formed by combining both sounds and meanings from two or more words. ...

Durex condoms represent around one quarter of the global market for prophylactic sheathes, manufacturing around one billion units per year in 17 factories worldwide. The Durex range includes nine varieties of latex condom and the Avanti condom, the first male condom made from polyurethane. Polyurethane condoms don't suffer from the "latex rot" problems associated with traditional condoms, and are suited for users who have an allergic reaction to latex. The LaTeX logo, typeset with LaTeX LATEX is a document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. ... A polyurethane is any polymer consisting of a chain of organic units joined by urethane links. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Other brands

The trade name Durex is also used internationally for a number of unrelated products. A number of comedians, including Jasper Carrott, have written routines exploiting for comic effect the mixups caused by the reuse of the Durex name. Jasper Carrott OBE (born Robert Davies, March 14, 1945) is an English comedian. ...

• In the USA and parts of Latin America, like Mexico and Brazil, Durex is a popular brand of adhesive tape, manufactured by 3M.
• Also in Mexico, Durex is a brand of socks.
• Durex Steel is a Canadian metal fabricator, now a division of ZCL Composites Inc.
• The Durex Corporation was an abrasives and adhesives conglomerate, run by a number of North American companies (including 3M) between 1920 and 1950. The corporation was dissolved in 1950, the US Supreme Court having found it to be an illegal combination under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The case of the disparate Durex brands is one of the prime examples cited by international branding specialists for the need for multinational corporations to undertake extensive brand searches to ensure a proposed name doesn't have an unsuitable meaning or connotation in another culture or language. Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... This article is about the American company, for the Russian company involved in a pyramid scheme, see MMM (pyramid) 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) (formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002) is an American corporation with a worldwide presence that produces over 55,000 products, including adhesives, abrasives, laminates, electronic... This article is about the American company, for the Russian company involved in a pyramid scheme, see MMM (pyramid) 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) (formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002) is an American corporation with a worldwide presence that produces over 55,000 products, including adhesives, abrasives, laminates, electronic... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... The Sherman Anti-Trust Act,15 U.S.C. § 1, was the first government action to limit trust companies (A corporate front for a combination of firms or corporations who agree not to lower prices below a certain rate for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices throughout a...

External links

• Durex condoms website
• H2G2's page on Durex condoms
• Condom use — In French, but with many pictures.