that was really nice of hanna barbara and universal, but it doesn’t show any limits on what disney can demand.
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They can demand but it made World wide news and it gave Disney a huge black eye and gave Universal kudos that work out in real money far in excess of any benefit to Disney for being so heavy-handed.
Disney’s public face of Saccharin kiddie films was dealt a huge blow.
and yet…
they still defend their IP to the hilt.
and they still make money hand over fist.
¯\__(ツ)_/¯
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That is the problem with really big. No amount of stupidity or arrogance makes much of a dent that those in charge have to notice until one day it does. Boeing being a recent example,
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Generally there are very strict tolerances to how those circles are put together (as is the case with all logos). And if they do not fall within those parameters… They probably don’t infringe even if they look superficially the same.
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As long as you understand the risks you are taking… That’s the thing most people don’t get. You may or may not get noticed. You may or may not get a cease&desist letter. You may or may not be subject to legal action. The risks are real. The stakes are high.
Do what ya like.
They are cute.
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I haven’t found that true when I’ve dealt with the USPTO. They tend to look at it from a “would a reasonable person think it was the…” whatever. I can’t use this for my new company logo even if we are “I Be Magenta” and International Business Machine’s logo is blue and not magenta.
And I couldn’t use this one even though the letters are not formed within the vertical tolerances IBM’s logo is defined with.
Because they both look to the viewer as if they’re simply derivatives of the real one:
No one is going to think that there’s a different company (like I Be Magenta or I Be Moving) because of my stylistic changes. IBM’s gonna win.
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this is really important. trademark is not the same as copyright. people confuse it all the time. i’ve been through this with a bunch of different sets of marks/names for liquor brands.
and it’s also why companies are so diligent. if they don’t protect their trademarks by enforcing them, they lose them. xerox hated when people said, “i’m just going to xerox this.” you’d think it was a great marketing thing, but it wasn’t. it was turning their trademark into a common phrase, which would lose its protection. so if a TV show used that line, Xerox would go after them. same with Kleenex. you’re not using a Kleenex any time you use a facial tissue.
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Band-aid too. They are bandages.
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yup, all of that. i remember hearing the xerox story (he was career xerox) from my dad in the 60s when i was a kid, too. it’s been this way a long time.
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I get where you are coming from, but the example is a bit… problematic because it’s 3 specific letters strung together along with a very identifiable theme to those letters.
But things get a little more interesting when it comes to stylizing symbols and such.
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What comes into play with these similar logos is the likelihood that the consumer will confuse the logos. I don’t think Sun micro is going to make sportswear, nor that Columbia will make routers. Beats is a headphone company, Bigfix is IT services. Again, not going to confuse Beats for an IT service provider.
And despite Disney lawyer’s protestations to the contrary… Mouse ear ear-savers are not going to be confused with a megacorp media / theme park company. 
Regardless, I fall on the side of better safe than sorry when it comes to the Big D. 
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“And I don’t mean Dallas.” 
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do you have a file for this that you are sharing id love to make some to donate!
Just a reminder, it’s against forum rules to ask for files. Whatever files are being offered free are in the Free Laser Designs section.
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sorry about that! i thought she was posting the files for it and i just didnt see them. im making ear savers for my kids school district, i thought those would fit little kid heads better
Sorry, not selling the file. 
These do work great for little kids.
Re-creating the design might be a good, easy learning project …
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I just say “Water Molecules” nobody has shape H20 configuration copyright do they? 
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