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02’s bubble burst in row over logos

By Andy | June 17th, 2008 | No Comments

Mobile phone operator O2 recently lost a ground-breaking court battle over the use of its trademark bubbles advertising imagery.

The company was told by judges that it was legal for rival operator 3 to use its branding if comparing price plans - opening the way for any business to use a competitor’s logo. Companies must only ensure there is no risk of confusing the two brands, the European Court of Justice ruled.

02 took 3 to court after it used the award-winning blue bubbles branding in an advert comparing the prices of the two companies’ pay-as-you-go services. The EU judges ruled this was not trademark infringement as long as the branding was not abused.

So, is this right? Well, I don’t personally believe that a competitor should be able to use another companies branding in any way. In some way or form it gives the illusion of endorsement. Not only that but it does detract from your carefully constructed brand values. An obvious example are the top supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda. Having the Waitrose logo in some way or form in an Asda advert isn’t going to do Waitrose any favours, obviously very different audiences for each shop so maybe that’s a bad example but you see what I mean.

It would be great to hear your views…