Tell me more ×
Webmasters Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for pro webmasters. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite
2

I have few concepts of logos for a website. How do I know a specific concept that is finalized, is already used by some other website or not?

share|improve this question
3  
Not a full answer, but tineye.com might find logos similar to yours. – artlung Jul 19 '10 at 22:27
If the logo is trademarked, you can do a trademark search (for US trademarks): uspto.gov/products/library/ptdl/services/tmsearch.jsp : If your mark incorporates a design or logo you must search for trademarks that might be confusingly similar. Use the index in the back of the Design Code Manual to locate the appropriate six-digit code for each design element in your mark. For example, a logo depicting an eagle would be coded 03.15.01. Each element in a logo is assigned a design code. Carefully review the guidelines for each category. – artlung Jul 20 '10 at 0:42
1  
I've had decent luck with GazoPa for finding similar logos gazopa.com Doing trademark (TESS) searches for graphics is incredibly frustrating, but a good step. Depending on site, worth getting an experienced professional to conduct the search for you. – JasonBirch Jul 20 '10 at 0:58
@artlung, I think that's the closet approach that you have suggested. As a test, I tried to upload Google logo & the site did show me several Google logos indicating that the logo exists. Now I took the logo of this website (webmasters.stackexchange.com) & tested it. There were no results to be found. So this means that the website was unable to find the match, although it existed. So under this situation, I think the chances of finding out if the logo exists is just 50-50 or maybe even less. What do you say? – Devner Jul 20 '10 at 14:48
@Devner, I agree, there's not a perfect mechanism to find out if a logo exists. I'm comfortable adding comments here, but not adding an answer per se. I'm hoping you find a way that is useful. – artlung Jul 20 '10 at 14:53
show 1 more comment

1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

In order to avoid trademark violations, there is no way around involving a lawyer. They can assist you in doing a search. Even then, there could be challenges. In the US, at least, a logo does not have to be registered to enjoy trademark protection. Prior evidence of trade using that mark (or one sufficiently similar under a "reasonable person" test) in a similar area of trade constitutes precedence. Defending and losing a trademark battle can be expensive due to costs of implementing changes and the possibility of penalties, not to mention legal fees. I am not a lawyer, so this is just a rough approximation.

share|improve this answer
Thank you for the reply. I understand that. But even a lawyer can do only so much. There may be more than a billion websites out there & more than a million unique logos (at least I hope). So what are the chances that a lawyer can really search a million logos(at the very least) & come up with accurate findings? Even a lawyer will have no option other than to search. So why don't we do the 'search' ourselves? Just a thought. – Devner Jul 20 '10 at 14:51
@Devner: It's called "due dilligence" and it spreads the blame, er, risk. – Dennis Williamson Jul 20 '10 at 18:20
Thank you for the reply. – Devner Jul 22 '10 at 19:39

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.