Is your financial logo a time bomb waiting to explode? If you have unwittingly infringed another brand’s copyrighted logo, then it could well be.

Many companies have done this without realising. How? Most commonly, IFAs have gone with a cheap logo designer through a freelancer directory. In many cases, IFAs never meet this designer in person or even speak to them on the phone. They pay pittance for the designer’s efforts (maybe £50 or so), but it can feel acceptable because you are not hugely invested in your design. After all, it’s just a logo right?

The trouble is, your logo is the visual focal point of your brand – it is not inconsequential. Moreover, this approach to financial logo design incentivises designers and creatives to cut corners. Think about it. You are not paying much for you logo. So from their perspective, you do cannot take it too seriously. If you did, you would be willing to pay for a bespoke design.

The best-case outcome in this situation is that you get a financial logo which is “good enough.” However, the worst-case outcome is you end up with a logo which you think you own, but was actually copied from somewhere else. You then potentially later find yourself with a costly lawsuit, facing legal expenses which dwarf the amount you spent getting the logo in the first place.

Are we just being overly dramatic here? Not really. Legal cases like this occur more often than you might think, and it’s easy to assume it will never happen to you. Our minds tend to think these things only happen to other people. Until it’s too late.

However, with the rise in image recognition technologies, it is now even more important that your financial logo is truly bespoke and unique to your brand. TrademarkVision, for instance, is a new startup which uses an algorithm to detect and compare logos. The aim is to help companies avoid copyright infringement. However, it can also be used to find perpetrators – even unwitting ones.

financial logo copyright infringementCredit: LogoDesignLove

If you got a financial logo on the cheap, then there is a good chance you are infringing copyright. You can gain peace of mind by using the tool above. Or, if you are in need of a redesign anyway, you can get a bespoke design from professionals who know the financial sector – like ourselves!

Warning signs of financial logo copyright infringement:

  • Your logo contains a well-known slogan or character.
  • You are not 100% confident that your logo is bespoke or original.
  • You quite fancy putting your own logo through the TradmarkVision software.
  • You paid pittance for your current logo.
  • Someone has commented that your logo looks similar to another one they have seen.
  • You never met your logo designer or spoke with them. All communication was via email / online messaging.
  • You just read these bullet points and felt a bit uncomfortable!

  • What do you think? Are we overstating the risk of financial logo copyright infringement? Are you confident that your designer gave you something truly unique?

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