HMR group possibly stealing the Ubuntu Logo

[Giant Speck]

You are being extremely generous..

If you had seen the HMR logo isolated, would you have known that it wasn't the Ubuntu logo? I wouldn't have.

Yes, I would have. They may look remarkably similar, but the differences between them are obvious.

[NCLI]

Not obvious enough for the average person not to think the same company could be behind bith HMR and Ubuntu though.

[Joeb454]

I emailed canonical about this a few weeks ago (there was another thread on the subject)

Here's the reply I got

Dear Joe,

Thank you for taking the time to report this to us.

========

From their website:

HMR Group
226 Saint Georges Road,
Bolton
Bl1 2PH

Office opening hours:
Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm
Telephone: 01204 384522

enquiries@hmrgroup.co.uk

========

Just to let you know that we are dealing with this through the appropriate channels.

Thank you for your support of Ubuntu!

Kind regards,

Michelle

Michelle Surtees-Myers

Canonical UK Ltd
Ubuntu - Linux for human beings | www.ubuntu.com | www.canonical.com

[tombott]

Yes, I would have. They may look remarkably similar, but the differences between them are obvious.

lol, are you on crack?

Seriously it's a blatant rip-off of the Ubuntu logo.

If I was to take Nike's tick logo, rotate it slightly and make it thinner would that be ok?
No of course it wouldn't and I have Nike's lawyers on my **** quicker than you can boot my Ubuntu 9.04 driven Asus EeePC.

[Giant Speck]

Seriously it's a blatant rip-off of the Ubuntu logo.

First of all, I have said multiple times that the HMR Group logo is remarkably similar to the Ubuntu logo.
That is a fact.

There are two things being said in this thread that are not facts:

1.) HMR Group ripped-off the logo.

This is obviously not a fact. It's speculation. Can you honestly tell me that you can automatically ascertain the intentions of HMR Group by simply looking at both its logo and Ubuntu's logo? Show me evidence that HMR Group purposely stole Ubuntu's logo and I will retract this statement.

2.) The HMR Group logo is a copy-and-paste duplicate of the Ubuntu logo.

I have demonstrated by superimposing the Ubuntu logo over the HMR Group logo that it is impossible that HMR Group simply copied and pasted Ubuntu's logo and changed the colors. For it to be an exact copy-and-paste duplicate of the Ubuntu logo, all I would have had to do was rotate one of the logos and they would have overlapped perfectly. I have shown that there are distinct differences in the two logos that make them not identical.

[Orlsend]

lol, are you on crack?

Seriously it's a blatant rip-off of the Ubuntu logo.

If I was to take Nike's tick logo, rotate it slightly and make it thinner would that be ok?
No of course it wouldn't and I have Nike's lawyers on my **** quicker than you can boot my Ubuntu 9.04 driven Asus EeePC.

Although it pretty obvious to some, there is no need to call people "High".

Now it seems we only can wait.

[tsali]

But wait a minute!

What's wrong with downloading and using someone else's intellectual property for free?

I thought FOSS advocates had problems with the principle of IP ownership and control?

[Tristam Green]

I smell a potential shill in this thread.

But wait a minute!

What's wrong with downloading and using someone else's intellectual property for free?

I thought FOSS advocates had problems with the principle of IP ownership and control?

No, we don't, not when used properly. As in, functions of a business. A logo is a business function, as is a trademark, and ripping one off to create another is altogether rather unforgivable.

[Rainstride]

Here is the Ubuntu logo (in black), superimposed on top of the HMR logo:



By superimposing the Ubuntu logo on top of the HMR logo, it makes it easier to show the differences between the two logos. Both logos are 85 pixels wide and 85 pixels high.

1.) The HMR logo is of a different color.
2.) The HMR logo is thicker.
3.) THe HMR logo is rotated slightly clockwise.
4.) The space between each "friend" in the HMR logo is much narrower. Similarly, the space that separates each "friend"'s head from their respective bodies is narrower.
5.) The center circle in the HMR logo is wider than the center circle in the Ubuntu logo.

Therefore, this logo wasn't a simple copy-and-paste job as you suggested. This was made from scratch and coincidentally looks like the Ubuntu logo.

and coincidentally whether or not it was made from scratch it is still a blatant rip off of the ubuntu logo witch is copyrighted by Canonical. it was probably "made" by some small company that though it would never be noticed.(as if though the 20millon or more ubuntu user would never see it.)

[Orlsend]

A realtors web-site logo does not fit in the category on non-cormercial. Anyways its trademark you can use it as long as you respect the agreement.

This draft trademark policy is itself published under the CC-BY-SA license, you are welcome to base your own project trademark policies off it, just let others use your changes and give credit to the Ubuntu project as the original source!