Hello.
First of all, I must note that Google Answers provides general
information and is not a substitute for professional legal advice. No
warranties are expressed or implied.
Although a building such as the Sears Tower can be trademarked, a city
skyline can't be subject to trademark protection. You could probably
use a stylized drawing of the Chicago skyline (including the Sears
Tower, Hancock Center, etc.) as your logo without any problems.
Indeed, a quick search on the internet indicates that stylized
drawings of the Chicago skyline (including the famous buildings) are a
very common logo design.
See:
National Conference for Community Justice
http://www.nccj-chicago.org/
Catalina Fleet 21
http://www.catfleet21.org/
Educause Conference
http://www.educause.edu/conference/mwrc/2003/
Chicago Dance
http://www.chicagodance.com/home.htm
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As indicated, you should have no difficulties using a stylized drawing
of the Chicago skyline (including the famous buildings). However, it
probably wouldn't be a good idea to use a realistic drawing of a
single building such as the Sears Tower as your logo. The Sears Tower
is reportedly trademarked, and the owners of the trademark could
theoretically claim that your logo would confuse customers into
thinking that you were affiliated with the Sears Tower. That argument
wouldn't carry much weight, though, if your logo included multiple
buildings or a general skyline. No one could possibly be confused into
thinking that you own or represent the whole Chicago skyline.
Here are some resources on this subject:
"Trademark law will protect a building's appearance under very limited
circumstances. If a distinctive-looking building is used to signify a
business's services, then you cannot use an image of that building in
a manner that will confuse consumers. For example, the Sears Tower in
Chicago functions as a trademark, and if you intend to use it in the
foreground of an advertisement, permission should be obtained from the
Sears Company...
Is permission needed to use the image of a trademarked building on a
postcard or poster? That issue arose when a photographer sold images
of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A federal court of appeals
permitted the use of the trademarked building on posters and did not
consider it to be trademark infringement. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
v. Gentile, 134 F.3d 749 (6th Cir. 1998).)"
source:
Stanford University: Copyright & Fair Use
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter12/12-d.html
Here's a good article about these issues:
"Who Owns the Skyline?" hosted by St Louis Volunteer Attorneys &
Accountants for the Arts
http://www.vlaa.org/pdfs/RockHall.pdf
[This document is in PDF format, so the Adobe Acrobat
Reader is required. If you don't have that, please visit Adobe's web
site:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html ]
Or view an html version, cached by Google:
http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:8p5EccnkmI0J:www.vlaa.org/pdfs/RockHall.pdf+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
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search strategy:
"sears tower", chicago, trademark
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame v. Gentile
"Chicago skyline"
I hope this helps. Best of luck with your new business! |
