usus.berlin-PRESS-INFORMATION January2004

--- GeneralPress.doc---  for Design/Marketing/Communication etc

Magnetic Pens from Berlin

Berlin entrepreneurs develop an innovative, cost-saving magnetic mechanics system for ballpoint pens / Quality Seal “Made in Berlin” / Will it only attract men?

“It has a refill, a top you push down, there’s a spring inside and a lot of other little parts. That’s all nicely packed inside a plastic casing with a slogan on the outside. When you click the top, the tip pokes out at the bottom and you can write …”

This is more or less how most people would describe one of the most popular writing instruments in the world – the ballpoint pen. But they would be making a mistake, since innovation can change even this most familiar of items, as the two founders of a new Berlin-based company have now shown.

As they founded usus.berlin together, Lennart Kleiber and Hilmar Nicolay had an ambitious aim: “We wanted to develop a pen that was simple, ingenious and valuable. It had to have an unmistakable design whose technical innovation and quality would speak for themselves.” Now it’s up to the market to show whether the result has lived up to their standards. usus.berlin launched “io” onto the market in November 2003: the world’s first ballpoint pen held together by magnetism. The patented SupraSpin® magnetic mechanism replaces the usual precision mechanics and ensures the smooth extension and retraction of the cartridge.

“io” has no little springs, no screw threads, no top to press down and no spacers. Simply the two halves of the housing, each engineered from a single piece of aircraft aluminium, and the cartridge inside. There’s nothing that will rattle or fall out – the “io” has a simple, clear functionality and a sleek, elegant design. Twist the housing in either direction and the tip will emerge and an additional shock absorption counters any excess pressure when writing. The cartridge can be replaced simply by pulling apart the two halves of the pen, which are held together by the magnet. With a recommended retail price of EUR 32.50, “io” is the ideal gift for both private and corporate contacts.

The developers anticipate that men will find this luxury pen especially fascinating. So they have also developed a smaller model that will appeal to a female clientele. “isis” is made of a special high-performance ceramic which counts among its uses a role in the construction of Formula 1 engines and lends the elegant pen a shock- and scratch-resistance second to none. Equipped with usus.berlin’s magnetic mechanics system and refined with gold- or silver-plated components, the ivory-coloured pen is a companion without equal. “isis” is priced at EUR 80.00.

Kleiber and Nicolay want to develop pens with the highest standards of design and functionality. The interest among the experts is an encouraging sign of their success. In addition, the usus.berlin founders want to establish “Made in Berlin” as a quality distinction: their new magnetic mechanics system allows for significant production cost savings, which in turn enables the company to have the pens assembled in the capital and surrounding region. The pens don’t need the high proportion of expensive manual labour involved in the production of most upmarket ballpoint pens nor do they have lots of small components.

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More detailed information and photos can be found at the URL:

If you have any questions, please call Hilmar Nicolay : Tel +49.(0)30.34 50 48.52 Fax +49.(0)30.34 50 48.59

usus.berlin  schlesische straße 27 10997 berlin  germany | |

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