A client whose website I am redesigning and updating, wrote to me recently and asked me to compare his website against another he’d come across. It seemed that his logo (icon) was 100% identical to the one on the other site and he wondered in my opinion if it was done by the same designer, or if perhaps, one designer copied the other.
These two companies couldn’t be farther apart in the industries they’re in, so perhaps whichever logo designer did them thought the two different clients would never see each other.
Now I must say that we’re all influenced by other designs, we cannot help it with the media we have before us. Between the internet, magazines and newspapers, TV, books, and all the existing companies with logos already trademarked, it’s a challenge to come up with an original logo design. But when I see two logos and they look like one was traced from the other, I know somebody copied the other, or was produced by the same designer.
What makes matters worse is the other website is an embarrassing health related type of site, and their icon is trademarked, so my client was horrified and now needs a new logo! When he approached the logo designer, the person just said, “Oh, really? Okay, would you like us to design a new logo for you?” I think that designer will not be surprised when he has to appear in court.
I felt I had to write about this because it made me wonder how an “artist,” a true “designer” would copy or use the same exact logo for two different clients. It makes me think that perhaps the company that produced the logos was more of a business and not a real artist, proud of their original designs, because a true artist would never copy their own work or someone else’s.
I know what you’re thinking, in web design we see templates for websites and blogs which are using this system and it works somewhat. You know, I’ll always try to convince my clients to go for an original design, even when it’s a blog. But branding a company, creating a logo/icon is very different and must always be original. This client not only had to remove it from their site, but will need to redesign their business cards, stationery and whatever marketing materials they’d created.
Here’s a link to another blog which talks more about this and shows a few examples similar to this case:
http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/09/logo-originality
Any artist worth their salt would not/could not practice such unethical ways. The designers I’ve come to respect are eager to put their own ideas into practice. Concepts and ideas get traded all the time, and there’s nothing wrong in that. Stealing or exact duplication is criminal.
Unreal isn’t it? I cannot post the links as it would embarrass my client. It’s not necessary, plus it’s already been removed.
i would love to see the URL’s for both sites posted in this article so that the world could actually see the violation!
this is sad.
To avoid this senario ,once a logo is created ,have it registered with a Patent Attorney. We use a great firm, Cooper & Dunham Llp., the largest patent attorneys in the country.
That would a stop to any copies.
As far as the artist that would do such an act, it is a person that is not worth the clothes they are wearing .
I’ve seen this sort of thing all over these “crowdsourcing” sites–which seem to be here to stay, sadly… and yes, it is sad. But the more clients (and ‘designers’) tend to cut corners, the more harm they do. I’ve been a designer 10+ years and it offends me that there are logo farms operating from various places (many overseas) that do not adhere to any recognizable ethical guidelines. It is a client driven industry however, so the more informed (and willing to hire certifiable talent–and compensate accordingly) the clients are, the better off both parties would be.
Just my thoughts on the issue.
Thanks, J. Nathaniel, it’s a sad but true fact… it’s up to responsible, creative artists to educate the world of clients, that their identity shouldn’t come from a factory, but needs to reflect their unique personality and business.
Where are the logos? Without naming names and showing what’s going on, this doesn’t have much weight to it.
To satisfy folks like yourself, I’ve updated the post and added a link to a blog that illustrates a few examples that are “identical” to this case.
Nelson Medina, I hope your lawyers are better at IP than you are, because you don’t get a patent on a logo, you file protection for a trademark. Yes, its still through the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) but its an entirely different sort of intellectual property protection … that’s what you’re paying the suits to handle for you.
The differences between patents, design patents, trademark and copyright are lost on a lot of people, as well as the benefits of filing and the limits of protection.
Filing for trademark protection does NOT put a stop to any copies, it offers you legal recourse and a leg to stand on when you find cases of trademark infringement or dilution.