There are people who would never dream of stealing a car or robbing a bank, yet when it comes to someone else's art, don't have any qualms about using it for their own purposes. They take photos, drawings, music, and corporate logos without thought. The internet has made this easier than ever to do. At the very least this is an infringement of copyright law. In the case of famous brands, it can be considered trademark dilution, and subject to serious penalties.
Some brands are so well known that their logos are immediately recognizable and associated with nothing but them. Corporations spend millions of dollars creating and maintaining their brand identity. Not only is the logo associated with a particular product, it evokes a certain response from consumers. The iconic head of a cartoon mouse with the creator's signature scrawled below it for instance, represents family, fun, quality, and vacation destinations for most people.
It is not okay for another company to come along and use the mouse ears on its own product as a way of gaining credibility or implying some association with the brand. This is diluting a trademark. It makes no difference if the product this company is advertising is totally unrelated to the mouse ear brand. Using the logo in any way is against the law.
Not all companies qualify for this special designation. If a suit is brought the company will have to prove the significance of diluting their logo. One marker is fame. To prove the suit, the logo has be one that is immediately recognized by the general public.
The company has to prove that the brand was instantly recognizable at the time of the offense. For instance, if the logo was more well known several years before the incident that brought the suit, courts will judge it differently than if it was more famous at the time of the offense. The company only has to show that the possibility of diluting the brand exists, not the fact that there was any actual injury.
Trademarks can be diluted in a number of ways. They can be blurred. This happens when a company uses another company's logo on a product that is in no way related to the original brand. An example would be the famous swoosh on running shoes being placed on paint cans for sale. Just the fact that the manufacturer used the swoosh is enough to potentially blur the distinctiveness of the running shoe brand.
Tarnishment occurs when a party uses a famous logo in a way that damages the brand of the original product. Putting the famous mouse head on packaging for tobacco would be an example of tarnishing. Freeriding is when someone intentionally takes a famous logo and uses it on a competing product to confuse the consumer and generate business by associating itself with the original company.
Conglomerates spend millions perfecting their brands. They don't take kindly to people stealing them. They can, and do, go to court and win.
Some brands are so well known that their logos are immediately recognizable and associated with nothing but them. Corporations spend millions of dollars creating and maintaining their brand identity. Not only is the logo associated with a particular product, it evokes a certain response from consumers. The iconic head of a cartoon mouse with the creator's signature scrawled below it for instance, represents family, fun, quality, and vacation destinations for most people.
It is not okay for another company to come along and use the mouse ears on its own product as a way of gaining credibility or implying some association with the brand. This is diluting a trademark. It makes no difference if the product this company is advertising is totally unrelated to the mouse ear brand. Using the logo in any way is against the law.
Not all companies qualify for this special designation. If a suit is brought the company will have to prove the significance of diluting their logo. One marker is fame. To prove the suit, the logo has be one that is immediately recognized by the general public.
The company has to prove that the brand was instantly recognizable at the time of the offense. For instance, if the logo was more well known several years before the incident that brought the suit, courts will judge it differently than if it was more famous at the time of the offense. The company only has to show that the possibility of diluting the brand exists, not the fact that there was any actual injury.
Trademarks can be diluted in a number of ways. They can be blurred. This happens when a company uses another company's logo on a product that is in no way related to the original brand. An example would be the famous swoosh on running shoes being placed on paint cans for sale. Just the fact that the manufacturer used the swoosh is enough to potentially blur the distinctiveness of the running shoe brand.
Tarnishment occurs when a party uses a famous logo in a way that damages the brand of the original product. Putting the famous mouse head on packaging for tobacco would be an example of tarnishing. Freeriding is when someone intentionally takes a famous logo and uses it on a competing product to confuse the consumer and generate business by associating itself with the original company.
Conglomerates spend millions perfecting their brands. They don't take kindly to people stealing them. They can, and do, go to court and win.
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