Westinghouse Licensing Corporation - History

History

All traces of the Westinghouse name go back to the original company's roots starting in 1886 when George Westinghouse founded that 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 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 under the Westinghouse Electric Corporation name; 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's left of the "Original Westinghouse" for good. The Westinghouse licensing division was included in the merger, and Viacom had now gotten 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. The current CBS Corporation continues to operate the Westinghouse Licensing Corporation today.