When you launch a new logo, it's almost inevitable that someone will step forward to point out similarities to an already existing logo.  Often, these "look-alike" logo's belong to an obscure business halfway around the globe or operate in entirely unrelated fields.  When we relied on complex images such as coats of arms or tartans to differentiate our brands, there was lots of room for tweaking a lion's claw here, adding a wheat sheaf there or stitching in an extra band of pink cotton and wammo - you could claim to have created a totally "new" graphic to symbolise your brand.

But with the modern-day preference for logo's that are both simple and highly stylised, it's increasingly difficult to make a truly unique logo from a few strokes of colour here and an elongated blob there.

So when Auckland City Council launched their new logo, they were fully expecting a bit of a rough ride.  What they didn't expect (and really, who could have foreseen this?) was that they'd be accused of pinching a logo not from some obscure laundromat in Des Moines, but from... their local tv station.

You be the judge -- the new Auckland City council logo is on the left and the local Auckland TV station's (Triangle TV) logo is on the right:


It's not that they compete in the same industry (though Triangle's major concern was over both organizations sponsoring sports and entertainment events and the resulting potential for confusion) -- it's that they both exist in and serve the same (relatively) small market.

Auckland spent $25,000 to develop the logo, $42,000 to conduct market research (which told them that the logo looked a lot like the local TV station) and another $16,000 for trademark registration costs (during which they were advised the logo was too similar to Triangle's) before going ahead and launching the logo anyway.  Once news of the look-alike logo got out (lead story on Triangle's evening newscast perhaps?), Auckland spent a further $10,000 to re-design the logo and another $37,500 to settle the legal tussle with Triangle.

Hiccups like these aren't as uncommon as you might like to think in the world of logo design and branding.  Auckland's is just a particularly inexplicable example of what can go horribly wrong when you ignore research findings and legal advice.

Be sure to invest in conducting a full competitive and environmental scan of all aspects of your branding project.  If you come across something that feels a little too familiar, it probably is.  Listen to what consumers tell you (people will almost always tell you that whatever they're looking at reminds them of something else, but if enough people say the same thing, they're probably right).  And watch TV... just in case.