Someone Claims My Logo Is Similar To Theirs And Wants Me To Change It?

[RiderInRed]

So a guy reached out to me claiming that I got a logo similar to theirs. My full logo is Rider in Red as you see in the image but I use the RIR one on anything that is square.

He asked to change it, I said it doesn't resemble his logo especially when his logo is for a different word and is mainly two RR with a line in the middle which doesn't represent a letter, unlike mine.

I'm trying to be nice to the guy, but I honestly don't get how you can 'change it a little to make it a bit different'. I told him mine is short for Rider in Red but he still believes he has a reasonable request.

So I'm wondering if you guys have had a thing like this happen to you. And also, is there a way to just trademark your logo to basically shut any similar arguments in the future?

 

[Hippo-Drones]

what is their logo? Surely if theirs is "RR" then maybe they need to contact Norton, Honda, Kawasaki and BMW and ask them to change their bikes logo too. Tell them to poke it mate, they have no claim on letters be they forward or reverse!

 

[RiderInRed]

what is their logo? Surely if theirs is "RR" then maybe they need to contact Norton, Honda, Kawasaki and BMW and ask them to change their bikes logo too. Tell them to poke it mate, they have no claim on letters be they forward or reverse!

Word. That's what I thought. In addition. mine is an acronym consisting of three letters and theirs is two letter for totally different words.
Here's a sample of theirs

 

[Hippo-Drones]

it is similar, but not identical and like you say, you have an "i"
I'd tell them the logos are not alike and your content is very different so is no conflict

 

[Hippo-Drones]

if you are tagging your vids to show up when folk search for their vids then poss stop doing that though! (not saying you are)

 

[RiderInRed]

if you are tagging your vids to show up when folk search for their vids then poss stop doing that though! (not saying you are)

I wasn't even aware ofthem. According to all the design standards, these logos don't look the same. Sure they might be 'similar' in a very remote and common way: swapping the first R horizontally to create symmetry is a very common thing (Search RR logo on google and you'll see how many hunderds of logos use the same technique). I know this because I have a studio that does video and multimedia (design). Styling is different, name is different. As you said by the same margin they'd be after all those bike companies cause someone else adred to use the letter R

 

[Hippo-Drones]

yup, tell them if they have an issue that they should change their logo!

 

[SighBored]

#1 Is his logo officially registered (r) or trade mark (tm)?
#2 There are tonnes of "RR" logos around, just Google it.
#3 Yours and his are nothing alike, having 2 Rs that's all.
#4 I would just tell them once politely that I will NOT be changing my logo, it is of my own design, but they are more than welcome to change theirs if they feel like it, and I'll just stop there, ignore whatever further communication.

 

[burlyjack]

Different colors, styles, and fonts. Tell them to buzz off. Even if theirs is trademarked and they wanted to sue they wouldn't win. Like sighbored said tell them you will not be changing it (while staying professional) and just leave it at that.

 

[R-Rated]

I have two Rs in my last name so I am suing everyone!

Just kidding, but seriously though unless that guy/group is in Armenia with you then he/they would have to make a big case about it.

You might check with Armenian laws to see what they say though.

 

[R-Rated]

They do have a Facebook presence. Seems to be a sport bike m/c and they do sometimes post with the first R backwards. However, the question is it trademarked and does it get negated by the words going across their insignias or not.

 

[Lurch]

Toys R Us have a backwards R, if anyone is going to get involved, they might, and they've got firepower, unlike one guy thousands of miles away.

 

[RiderInRed]

I agree with all of you guys. Thanks for the input.

They do have a Facebook presence. Seems to be a sport bike m/c and they do sometimes post with the first R backwards. However, the question is it trademarked and does it get negated by the words going across their insignias or not.

I doubt he has a trademark. And even if they do. I don't care, there are not enough similarities to even sue me on this. Furthermore, them posting with two Rs is still different from me posting with R I R. It's like suing FB (facebook) for using similar letters as FBI.

 

[thunderous71]

I dont get it, one is RR the other is RIR, how is that too similar ? Some people are weird.

 

[LoneWolfer]

I'm a graphic designer and I have created, copyrighted and trademarked hundreds of logos for clients over the years. Copyright is pretty simple here in the U.S. Whoever posted it into the world first gets the copyright. With digital metadata you can often times work out who first put something out for people to see first quite quickly.

But throw in the fact that you are in one country and they are in another makes it futile for them to even mention an issue of similarity to you. Then there's the fact that they are only similar in the fact that they have two R's with the first one backwards but different fonts. Yours has three letters and stands for proper words is also quite different. He doesn't even spell Riders properly which is just annoying in a way that can only be compared to trying to text with a teenager.

Him coming to you with this is like American Airlines going after American Apparel as both use Helvetica for the font and have American in their company name. Or the hundreds if not thousands of companies that use helvetica as their font in their names: Jeep, Target, 3M, BMW, Crate&Barrel, Toyota, Sears, Panasonic, Tupperware, Scotch, Harley Davidson, Kawasaki - I could go on for a lot longer.

Just block him and forget about it.

 

[RiderInRed]

I'm a graphic designer and I have created, copyrighted and trademarked hundreds of logos for clients over the years. Copyright is pretty simple here in the U.S. Whoever posted it into the world first gets the copyright. With digital metadata you can often times work out who first put something out for people to see first quite quickly.

But throw in the fact that you are in one country and they are in another makes it futile for them to even mention an issue of similarity to you. Then there's the fact that they are only similar in the fact that they have two R's with the first one backwards but different fonts. Yours has three letters and stands for proper words is also quite different. He doesn't even spell Riders properly which is just annoying in a way that can only be compared to trying to text with a teenager.

Him coming to you with this is like American Airlines going after American Apparel as both use Helvetica for the font and have American in their company name. Or the hundreds if not thousands of companies that use helvetica as their font in their names: Jeep, Target, 3M, BMW, Crate&Barrel, Toyota, Sears, Panasonic, Tupperware, Scotch, Harley Davidson, Kawasaki - I could go on for a lot longer.

Just block him and forget about it.

Thanks for the extensive input! I gotta tell there's one more difference in the logo. The M in the negative space. So basically there are four letters on my logo while two on theirs. Idk what the dude was thinking about to begin with. Gee.

 

[scooterwuf]

Like Lonewolfer said the fact that he's in a different country than you makes everything moot. You are protected by the copyright laws of the US if you created yours first, but to prove official ownership you need to register it with the Copyright Department of the Library of Congress under form VA (Visual Art).

I also believe that in terms of Trademark, you can have the same names if you're in different business. If your business name was Apple, and you ran an orchard, then Apple computer can't sue you. Your names and logs are different. The only thing he can do is ask you to change it. That's it.

- Wuf

 

[RiderInRed]

Like Lonewolfer said the fact that he's in a different country than you makes everything moot. You are protected by the copyright laws of the US if you created yours first, but to prove official ownership you need to register it with the Copyright Department of the Library of Congress under form VA (Visual Art).

I also believe that in terms of Trademark, you can have the same names if you're in different business. If your business name was Apple, and you ran an orchard, then Apple computer can't sue you. Your names and logs are different. The only thing he can do is ask you to change it. That's it.

- Wuf

That's pretty much what I thought too. Plus my full logo is Rider in Red so I don't see what's his beef about this whole thing lol

 

[scooterwuf]

Some people are not comfortable that someone may have the same idea as them, or that their idea isn't unique. This may be a case of insecurity or a bruised ego on the other guy's part.

- Wuf