Logo Trademark Infringement–Jonathan Munk
“Great minds think alike” is not a valid excuse when it comes to Trademark infringement lawsuit defenses. Those of us that follow these kinds of cases know they go on constantly, but because of that, they go unnoticed by most people. The reason they are so common is because according to the law, an organization must actively protect its Trademark or else it will lose that protection.
Here are a couple of interesting current logo trademark infringement cases.
MetLife is in a legal battle with MetBank over the bank’s new logo, which they are trying to use in close geographical proximity to the landmark MetBank building near Grand Central Station. A judge ruled yesterday that MetBank would temporarily be barred from using it’s logo at the bank’s new branch until the case can to to court, because the logos look too similar.
The judge’s reasons are that both the logos use blue block letters in Sans Serif fonts, and they both have the same number of letters, with the first and forth letter being capitalized. The judge called the logos “highly similar” and said that the “two marks leave an overall impression that is strikingly similar.”
MetLife even conducted a survey, finding that 38 percent of people who saw the two logos side by side concluded that MetLife was associated or directly owned by MetBank.
Here’s another situation that is probably on its way to court:
The brand new EU logo looks more than similar to The Euroskeptic Bruges Group logo, of London, which as been around for a while now. Both have similar designs that include swans flying in a V-shape. Both V-shapes are facing the same direction, both have about the same number of swans, and the angles of the Vs are almost identical. The shapes look like the “Greater Than” symbol in mathematics.
When asked about the similarity between the logos, Michael Jordan, designer of the EU logo, said “The credit should surely go to Mother Nature.”
The Bruges Group co-chair, Lord Lamont, is threatening legal action unless the EU can come up with a better explanation as to why the logos look so similar.