Copyright law is pretty sticky business, just ask Johnny Walker. But even taking copyrights out of the equation, it’s important to make sure to differentiate yourself from the rest of the marketplace.
When naming a company, product, or campaign, it is best practice to Google the potential name and see what pops up. If the name is taken, and the imagery and/or the market is similar to your idea, go in a different direction.
The copycat that brought this to my attention recently was ExactTarget, a platform for email and social media marketing. They recently started an educational campaign to introduce users to their new interface. What they failed to do was see if anyone else has used a similar logo, like say, the biggest sports retailer in the southern half of the United States.
Now I know Helvetica is a very popular (if not overused) font, and I may be a bit biased, having had my first summer job at Academy Sports + Outdoors, but it seems borderline copycat to have the same name and font face. ExactTarget, just be glad the sports retailer decided to add a slant on the tops of letters.
Allison Munson 