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September 21, 2005

"Cheap" Logo Design Can Be Costly

Today, I came upon the boingboing post Logo rip-offs, which links to an internal page on Bad Design Kills. The page, titled LOGOWORKS.COM RIP-OFFS, shows several logos that are suspect from a trademark view.

For example, the logo on the right looks strikingly similar to the one on the left. According to the sources I could find on the internet, the one on the left was created by the discount logo designers at logoworks.com.

This caused me to think about the liability of the designers for trademark infringement. I looked to their Terms and Conditions of Use and discovered that "no trademarks or service marks . . . are being conveyed." Unfortunately, the design firm is not responsible for any kind of trademark clearance. This would likely be true even without such a disclaimer.

While I believe that the "copycat" designers may have a copyright problem, I think they're probably okay when it comes to trademarks. They are not using the mark to sell similar goods. Rather, they're selling the mark itself.

The moral of the story: Call your favorite trademark lawyer before using a new logo, especially if the logo comes from a discount designer.

Posted by Melody Wirz at 02:43 PM.
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