Prescott's Design Blog

Lacoste has been foiled in its latest effort to defend the iconic Crocodile logo from infringement by no less than a Dentist practice in Cheltenham, UK. The story from Design Week tells how:

An adjudicator at the UK Intellectual Property Office ruled that there was no likelihood of confusion between the iconic Lacoste alligator logo and the reptile image used for the dentist’s marque … even though there was a degree of visual similarity between the logos, the average consumer would be well aware that the dental practice was not a retail outlet.

Lacoste was ordered to pay £1000 towards the costs of the dentists, who said it was unreasonable for a single company to expect to have sole and exclusive use of crocodile images.

Let that be a lesson to you — not everyone is trying to steal your business! And while they may have been acting in the spirit “defend it or lose it”, seems they lost £1000 in the process. Now why don’t these guys go after Chinese Bootlegers.