The Olympic Games is one of the most celebrated sports events in the planet. It attracts participants from across the entire globe who come together to compete in a wide range of activity. Given the popularity of the event and the popularity that accompanies it, hosting it is usually a dream of every country. Tokyo got the privilege to host the 2020 Olympics Games and ever since they were awarded the bid, they have been preparing earnestly to have everything ready for the global sporting event. However, their hapless preparations for the Olympics games have been hampered by allegations that the Olympics logo might have been plagiarized.

Plagiarism in logo design is such a grave concern because it puts in doubt the designer’s ability to come up with fresh and unique design concepts. Additionally, for a global fiesta like the Olympics, it is utterly embarrassing to use a logo which appears to have been plagiarized. This is why Japan had to scrap off the logo in question and look for other alternatives.

When a design is copied on this level it can lead to some extreme controversy. This kind of problem can also detract from the games as a whole. While a major design contest does sometimes have this type of controversy associated with it, it is not often that a major designer is ripped off for the use of such a high profile logo. It will certainly be interesting to see if any future legal repercussions occur as a result of this case. If a logo was protected under copyright however then it may not be applicable due to differing copyright laws between international law. This is still a major international story however, worthy of design attention.

The accusations of plagiarism of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Game logo sparked off when a Belgium designer, Olivier Debie accused the 2020 Olympics logo designer of stealing his concept. Olivier claimed that Sano (the Olympics logo designer) didn’t just take his idea but also used other images in the logo design without acquiring permission to do so. This forced the Olympics Committee to ditch the design since they didn’t want to be associated with such claims.

The controversial Olympics logo has some semblance to a logo designed for the Theatre de Liege in Belgium, by Olivier Debie. Sano as well as the Olympics Committee have accepted the presence of the similarities between the two logos but have however refuted claims of plagiarism in the design.

Though Olivier is set to move to court to start the legal process of ensuring that the logo is not used during the Olympic Games, the organizing committee has asserted that the Belgium design was not a registered trademark. Hence, Sano cannot be guilty of plagiarism. They explain that Sano’s design features a “T.” This was inspired by the fact that the games will be held in Tokyo, so it was more appropriate for the logo have a letter T in it. The other inspiration on the logo is the red circle, and this was inspired by the Japanese flag characterized by the red circle representing the sun.

But after some time, the official organizing the Olympic Games decided to unveil Sano’s initial design, claiming that its emphasis on the shape of the letter “T” had no semblance of the Belgium’s theater design. The committee was, therefore, keen to promote the use of the Sano-designed logo and make it popular ahead of the games in 2020.

But the controversies surrounding the Olympics logo designs seem not to be far from over. It has emerged that Sano’s initial design also had semblance with the late German typographer, Jan Tschichold. Additionally, the local media has alleged that Sano had used images from a certain website without being given permission to do so.

On his defense, Sano stated that the inspiration for his design had come from the emblem used when Tokyo held the first Summer Olympic Games in 1964, claiming that he had never set his eyes on the Belgium design before. But some people found this defense difficult to buy since Sano had been in the past accused of plagiarizing other people’s work. As a result, this has put his credibility to test, and he will find it an uphill task to convince everyone that the Olympics logo design is his original creation.

Now that the authenticity of the logo as well as the credibility of the designer are in serious doubt, the officials organizing the games have decided to distance themselves from the logo and have thus commissioned a new design. They hope that they will ultimately find a designer and a design that will be clean from all allegations and which they can to restore the already dented image of organizing committee.

Check out the controversy surrounding the 49ers Logo here!

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Once you have a uniquely designed logo for your business, the next step is to trademark it so that you are the only person in the whole universal with the legal rights to use it in branding or promoting your products and services. Failure to trademark your logo may give others a leeway to use it and trademark it for their businesses, and if the logo gains worldwide recognition as the ones we know, you stand to lose a great chance of global growth and dominance.

Before delving into the intricate details on how to trademark your logo, it is important first to understand what a trademark is and the particular items you can trademark. In simple terms, a trademark refers to a phrase, symbol, design, word, mark or any other device in use by a person or company to differentiate his products and services from those of other businesses or providers. Trademarks can also be seen as brands, and you can secure legal rights associated with it just like in the case of copyrights.

A business logo is thus a form of a trademark because it is used by individuals and businesses to distinguish their products and services from those of other companies. A logo can exist in the form of design, letters, words, symbols or a combination of all these. The process of securing a trademark for your logo in the United States is surprisingly not a complicated, and virtually any businesses or product owner can do. Just follow the steps listed below if you want to know how to trademark your logo in the United States-:

Perform a Trademark Search

The first step when you want to trademark your logo is to ensure that it is exclusively available for your adoption and use and that it is not in use, either in part or in whole by another party or business. The way to know about this exclusivity of use and adoption is by performing a trademark search. You can do this by searching the U.S Patent and Trademark’s Office records, or you can use the services of search companies like the Thompson CompuMark to find out if your logo is already in use by others and if it has been trademarked. It is, however, advisable to use a trademark attorney to do the search on your behalf when you want to trademark your logo. The beauty of using the services of such attorney at this stage is that they can refine the search terms to yield far much better results than you would have received when doing it on your own. Besides, they also possess the legal expertise to analyze the results and advise you more appropriately when you want to trademark your logo.

Secure Trademark Rights to you Logo

There are three distinct ways you can use to secure the trademark right for your logo once you determine its exclusivity. But this can only happen after you conduct a successful search, and you are sure that there is nobody else who has trademarked the logo or is using it. These methods include the following-:

Start using your logo – using the logo is the first way you can trademark it. In this manner, any person interested in using it will know that it belongs to someone and in most cases, they will look for other alternatives. The problem with this method is that it gives you very limited rights of over the logo. Any person can still go ahead and trademark it before you, thus making you infringe on their trademark rights if you continue to use the same logo.

File application with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office – though you can trademark your logo with the Secretary of State’s office in your state (when you intend to use it in your state alone), it is recommended that you file an application with the Patents and Trademarks Office so that you acquire national rights over the use of the logo. If your application is approved, your logo will receive nationwide protection and nobody else will ever be allowed to use it. It is also recommended that you use the services of a trademark attorney since such applications are always detailed with lots of legal jargon that might confuse you.

Enforce the Trademark Rights

Once you manage to trademark successfully your logo, the next and the final step is to shield it against adoption and use by any third party. This is what is referred to as enforcing your trademark and you do so by having a “trademark watch” in place. A Trademark Watch will alert you whenever anyone is using your logo or a nearly similar logo to yours. The other alternative you can use after you trademark your logo is to include the words TM on it so that whoever sees it will know that is already trademarked hence they can’t use it in any way.

These are the necessary steps needed when you want to trademark your logo in the United States. They seem simple, but when it comes to actual application, they may be tedious and confusing. This is why it is still recommended that you engage a trademark attorney at all stages when you want to trademark your logo.

Learn how important your logo is to brand identity and why it needs protection, here. 

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