Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
I remember Firebird, and I'd wondered why they hadn't gone with Phoenix. Always nice to get these little historical (and linguistic) tidbits.  |
Same problem: someone else already had a program with that name, and there was a trademark collision.
Doing a trademark search is a must when creating a product, but sometimes isn't done. When it isn't, the results can be grimly amusing.
Some years back, NBC decided it was time for a graphic facelift, and hired top design firm Chermayeff and Giesmar to do a new logo and typographic scheme for them. C&G told NBC they had
not done a trademark search, and that NBC needed to check before using the new logo. NBC didn't.
It turned out a small PBS station in Nebraska had been using a logo similar to what C&G designed for NBC for years.
NBC settled with the PBS station for a $25,000 fee and the donation of half a million worth of studio gear that was obsolete by NBC standards, but still a generation ahead of what the PBS station had.
The Art Director at the PBS station was quite pleased with the deal his station got, and happy to create a new logo.
NBC had a red corporate face and was snickered at for years in the design community.
The Mozilla folks were a bit red-faced over FF's name problems, too, but were capable of seeing the humor in the situation.
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Dennis