Bic

Société Bic S.A., commonly referred to as Bic (stylized as BiC or BIC), is a French manufacturing corporation based in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine. Founded in 1945 by Italian aristocrat Marcel Bich and Édouard Buffard, the company produces disposable items, specifically pens, stationery, lighters, and shaving razors.

History

In 1945, Marcel Bich, former director of an ink factory, and his partner, Édouard Buffard, established a business creating writing instrument parts in a factory in the Paris suburb of Clichy, where they began production of pen holders and pencil cases. Bich bought the patent for the ballpoint pen from Hungarian-Argentine inventor László Bíró and, using Swiss watchmaking tools, devised a manufacturing process that produced stainless-steel balls for the tip of the pen. Bich soon perfected the design of the ballpoint pen, and the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen became the company's first product (under the "BIC" name) in 1950. As of 2005, the Bic Cristal had sold over one hundred billion units since its launch.

In order to avoid problems with sales in English-speaking countries (although in French, his name is not pronounced bitch but "beesh"), Bich dropped the letter H when he formed Société Bic in 1953, and the company was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1972. The design of the pen has remained mostly unchanged since its initial launch, and as of 2021, remains the best-selling pen in the world.

Between 1950 and the 1970s, BIC expanded globally into Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain. In 1956, the company established itself in Brazil, and soon after expanded into the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Scandinavia in 1957.