When Logos Look Alike – Is It Coincidence, Inspiration or Plagiarism?

Often you come across logo designs that make you think “where have I seen this before? When we look at logo designs that look alike, we usually come to one of three conclusions… Plagiarism, Inspiration or a Coincidence.

There are literally millions of logos out there and chances are, many logos are going to look similar to another but whether or not it was copied is what is up for debate. They say imitation is the sincerest of flattery, but that doesn’t make it legal, or right though. There is a very thin line between coincidence, inspiration, and plagiarism.

‘Copycats’, ‘look alikes’ and ‘me-toos’ sound so much more innocuous than ‘forgeries’, ‘counterfeits’ and ‘fakes’ but they can be just as damaging. Not only do they steal potential customers but they undermine the value of the real thing and cheapen its image.

While I am all-for emulating good marketing ideas: if something works in another industry or for another company, apply it to your own and see how it works for you. But there’s copying a concept – and then there’s…stealing.  Using a VERY similar concept in the SAME industry , and in the SAME service area is very questionable at best.

What do you think about these logos?

Our Dries In Minutes Carpet Cleaning Logo TM 2004 - There are only a handful of companies nationwide that are authorized to use this logo.

Dry In Minutes Logo 2009 by MD Carpet & Oriental Rug Cleaners

What do you think when you see logos that look alike? Comments welcome.